Chapter Chat

ASLA Vermont

Jim Palmer, ASLA, Vermont chapter president, presents the lifetime achievement award to Craig Rankin, ASLA.

Craig Rankin, ASLA, has received a lifetime achievement award from ASLA Vermont Chapter. Before retiring to Vermont, Rankin’s career included designing the landscape elements of such well-known New York City locations as Central Park, Jones Beach, the Verrazano Bridge, and even Yankee Stadium, for which he designed the field surface still used today. Rankin retired to Cavendish, Vermont, in the early 1980s, serving as the town’s tax assessor for 10 years and becoming an active opponent of the proposed hydroelectric dam in Springfield. He also hosts an annual plant sale of his own plants to benefit the Cavendish Historical Society.

Rankin attended Cornell University and studied under several renowned landscape architects. After serving in the Navy during World War II, he returned to New York to pursue his career. He was also an ASLA member. The award was presented by Jim Palmer, ASLA, Vermont chapter president.