5.3 Neighborhood and Community Resources: Meadowbrook Pond, Seattle
Nearby neighborhoods and community resources may serve as integral school learning environments in addition to local parks. Resources include public parks, community centers, utilities, and other civic institutions. When such places are conceived or recognized as learning environments, students and the larger community may be engaged in the landscape's development and on-going stewardship.
In northeast Seattle, the Thornton Creek watershed hosts multiple places and organizations for learning and ecological stewardship, including the Thornton Creek Alliance, a "grassroots, nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and restoring an ecological balance in the Thornton Creek watershed" (TCA website). Another initiative is the Thornton Creek Project, a collaboration of schools and others to study and care for the watershed. Extensive hands-on curricula have been used at some 25 schools in the watershed, ranging from elementary level to community college (TCP website).
A special place along Thornton Creek also fosters learning for all ages, although not specifically designed with this intent. When Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) undertook the development of a flood control and sedimentation pond project, an extensive public process and artists' vision expanded the potential roles and character of this site. The result is an ecologically, artistically, and educationally rich neighborhood open space called Meadowbrook Pond.
5.3.1 Conditions and designers' role
Today the nine-acre site of Meadowbrook Pond appears more like a sculpted garden than a public utility, with whimsical features animating the naturalized setting of landforms, pond, and Thornton Creek. The site is nestled in a low density residential neighborhood, with three public schools and a community center nearby (figure 35). Yet in 1989, the site and its context were quite different when the City's capital improvements budget included funds for a flood control project. The site's contained a defunct sewage treatment plant that had been an attractive nuisance, and the local community requested its immediate removal.
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figure 35 Meadowbrook Pond, outlined with a dashed line, is set in a residential neighborhood with three public schools and a community center nearby. source: City of Seattle Landview CD 1995, drawn by: Anita Madtes and Jose Sama |
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In 1990, the plant was demolished, and planning for a flood control pond commenced. SPU project manager Pamela Miller began a series of community meetings to address concerns and potentials for the site's development. Neighbors valued the open space and enjoyed the wildlife that frequented the site. Nathan Hale High School used outbuildings on the site for shop classes and a horticulture program. Miller organized a Citizens' Advisory Committee of diverse interests to examine precedents and help define the project's scope. The community reached consensus that the pond be designed as an amenity and wildlife habitat. SPU engineers designing the project involved consultants such as a fisheries ecologist, wetland ecologist, and modeler of flood conditions. By late 1995, plans were submitted to the state for approvals, but due to agency cuts plan review was scheduled to take a year (Miller 2000).
The community was eager for change, and Miller sought to sustain interest by initiating the project's public art component through Seattle's Percent for Art program. The Seattle Arts Commission administers this program, and placed a national call for artists. Three teams were shortlisted to present proposals. The selected Seattle-based team distinguished itself by integrating the site and its inherent qualities with art. This multi-disciplinary artist team was architect/artist Lydia Aldredge, landscape architect/artist Peggy Gaynor, and artist Kate Wade.
5.3.2 Design and development process
The site's design met the intent as a flood control and sedimentation pond, met community goals for open space, and came to life through the artist team's vision. In this team's vision of aesthetic and experiential qualities, they creatively drew upon the site's development to enhance the sense of place. The artists recycled the soil from the pond excavation as a series of sculptural earthworks, and in the process the estimated $250,000 cost of soil removal was redirected to implement site artworks (Gaynor, Miller 2000).
school/community participation
Although community involvement originated with concerns relating to the unused sewage treatment facility, the pond's planning process served as a catalyst for organized community participation. The artist team's design intentions were presented at community meetings and moved forward. As the pond was developed, community members were enlisted to help with site features and be stewards of the completed site. Landscape architect Peggy Gaynor had worked with this community in volunteer planting efforts through her design for nearby Meadowbrook Wetland and its phased development that started in 1993. At Meadowbrook Pond, Gaynor engaged high school students and other volunteers to plant native species and build tufa walls (figure 36). Gaynor has continued to work with SPU and the community, starting "Friends of Meadowbrook Pond" in the fall of 1999. A Friends work party at the site drew over 50 people, including a local boy scout troop. The group's focus also includes fostering learning about the site through docent training and tours and activating the site as a stage for cultural events and community gatherings (Gaynor 2000).
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figure 36 Students and other volunteers help landscape architect Peggy Gaynor construct tufa walls at Meadowbrook Pond. artwork © Peggy Gaynor, Lydia Aldredge, Kate Wade, Reflective Refuge at Meadowbrook Pond, 1998. Photo: Peggy Gaynor |
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pedagogy
Throughout the pond's planning and development, SPU's Pamela Miller sought to integrate learning potentials. Miller received a $200,000 grant from the Washington Department of Ecology to develop a high school oriented wetland curriculum. She organized scientific and educational technical advisory committees that included local teachers to develop the curriculum. During the project's construction, classes from John Rogers Elementary School visited the site to learn about its design and goals. The students collaborated with an artist to develop an interpretive display of this project and the values of wetlands. Nathan Hale High School's horticulture program remained on the site, and a new greenhouse was constructed as part of the project to support this program. Summit K12 School uses the site for classes, and teachers have invited Peggy Gaynor in for presentations.
children's participation
While children did not participate in the design process in ways relating to Hart's ladder, they have played an active role in the pond's development and care. Children have observed site construction, undertaken volunteer plantings and tufa wall construction with Gaynor, and studied the site's environmental qualities. High school horticulture students served as docents during the project's grand opening in June 1998, explaining the site features to visitors. A planned partnership with the school to grow wetland plants for the site will provide opportunities for continued care, and Miller hopes to foster a student docent program.
development status
With construction completed in 1998, Miller has continued to pursue opportunities to use the site as a learning environment for schoolchildren and citizens. Portico, an interdisciplinary design firm, was hired to design an environmental learning center for an adjacent site. The center would present the watershed and its human and habitat relationships through hands on learning experiences. The center's innovative design includes exhibits, demonstration gardens, and two buildings. To date, budget constraints have halted its development.
5.3.3 Design approaches and qualities
Meadowbrook Pond's meaning and values are multifold, and are revealed in its design. Its origins as a flood control and sedimentation pond have been enriched by desires for a meaningful habitat, neighborhood amenity and learning environment. The artists incorporated these potentials while envisioning the site as an inspiring and quiet refuge from the city. Titled "Reflective Refuge at Meadowbrook Pond" the site's earth-sculpted spaces and artistic features call attention to natural elements and events (figure 37). A Sound Mirror directs sounds of water falling over a dam to a Sound Reflector Wall. A flood pool and a Water Gate pavilion that literally steps down into the pond provides opportunities for people to touch the water. Playful mosaics set in the paving and inscribed metal panels provide imagery and text of the meaning of this place. Native plants along the slopes, in wetland areas, and along the pond provide regional insights. The artistic spatial and ecological diversity demonstrate these landscape qualities:
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figure 37 The winding paths along berms in the upper right of this photo lead left to the Sound Reflector Wall and tufa wall, flood pool and Water Gate pavilion. A footbridge spans the pond to connect with the eastern neighborhood. artwork © Peggy Gaynor, Lydia Aldredge, Kate Wade, Reflective Refuge at Meadowbrook Pond, 1998. photo by: Seattle Public Utilities |
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natural and cultural systems
The site's wetland habitat supports wildlife including herons, eagle, salmon, river otter and even a beaver family. Views and sounds within the site are predominantly of nature, since mature trees that were preserved along the site's edges screen surroundings, and the landforms buffer street sounds. The site's diverse artworks provide insights of and access to the natural surroundings. For example, artwork and text inscriptions offer poetic understandings, the Sound Mirror provides sounds of rushing water that is not visible from the Sound Reflector Wall area, and an artistically expressed footbridge crosses Thornton Creek for access from the site's west side.
connections
Visual and pedestrian access into the site are clear and frequent along the site's residential edges. An extensive bridge spans the pond to connects the eastern neighborhood(figure 37). The west entry offers a distinctive separation between the site and adjacent busy street. The entry is well-marked, but upon entering, landforms flank a winding path block street noise and views. Progression into the site brings nature to ones senses (figure 38). Miller notes that safety was a community concern, thus every part of the site is designed to be visible from other locations.
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figure 38 A utilitarian sign as well as tall earth berms flanked by boulders and walls with inscriptions mark the ponds west entry. The path winds around the berms that cut off sights and sounds of the street. artwork © Peggy Gaynor, Lydia Aldredge, Kate Wade, Reflective Refuge at Meadowbrook Pond, 1998. photo by: author |
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legible and complex image
The site's image is both legible and complex. Its unique landforms, bridges, structures and tufa wall are memorable landmarks. However, the sequential revealing of views and spaces creates a sense of mystery as one moves through the site, and these varied views enrich understandings of the site. Details within built elements and ever-changing vegetation and water all provide complexity for continuous discovery.
varied scales
A rich diversity of scales are found, including intimate spaces among sculpted landforms, the refuge of the tufa wall, and the broad island-laden pond crossed by a bridge. The undulating topography and structures offer spaces that can support large groups as well as places for solitude. Alternative paths climb slopes and provide distant views, or prospect, while others connect to the creek, pond, and surrounding neighborhood (figure 39).
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figure 39 Boulders mark the intersection of a path to an overlook above the tufa wall with a path that winds along Thornton Creek. artwork © Peggy Gaynor, Lydia Aldredge, Kate Wade, Reflective Refuge at Meadowbrook Pond, 1998. photo by: author |
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flexibility
The site offers conditions and materials that foster flexibility in its character and use over time. Varying water levels create challenges for wetland species, which makes planting areas a source of experimentation. The arrival of beaver to the site has resulted in a management strategy that seeks to balance habitat and flood control values of the site. The site's diverse spaces are flexible in how they may be used and in accommodated large and small groups. While the site provides places for solitude, it also can be a stage for community events.
aesthetic quality
Meadowbrook Pond's blending of natural systems and artistic expressions creates an engaging aesthetic. In a Seattle Arts Commission Publication, the artists are quoted describing the project: "An earthwork integrating structure, earth and pond as sculpture, it is effected and transformed by light, seasons and weather, creating ever-changing moods, textures and colors. Removed from the urban setting this landform shelter serves to focus and connect one physically and emotionally with nature" (1998).
5.3.4 Experiential values for school and community
While not designed explicitly for learning, Meadowbrook Pond holds tremendous potential as a learning environment for area schools and community members. The participatory planning and construction processes invested many in the project. Numerous schools use the site for environmental studies, and the adjacent high school's horticulture program uses the on-site greenhouse. Neighborhood and community residents visit the site, exploring the varied paths and features, and observing wildlife. The site's qualities engage multiple intelligences through varied experiences:
sensation
The site's rushing and still water, tufa walls, Sound Mirror, mosaics, structures, landforms and diverse vegetation offer myriad sensory experiences (figure 40). Paths that wind up and around slopes provide kinesthetic challenges and opportunities for new perspectives. With the landform buffering street noise, the sounds of water, wind, and wildlife can be heard. Details found in the hand-formed tufa walls, inscriptions, and mosaics create opportunities for tactile discovery.
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figure 40 The overlook above the tufa wall and Sound Reflector Wall provides views of the flood pool and Water Gate pavilion, pond, and Sound Mirror disc at the far right. artwork © Peggy Gaynor, Lydia Aldredge, Kate Wade, Reflective Refuge at Meadowbrook Pond, 1998. photo by: author |
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choices
The site's variety of spaces and paths offer choices for different forms of sociability and movement. Unlike formal play areas, the site does not prescribe particular activities. As paths diverge, choices in where one explores, pauses, and rests are determined by the visitor.
manipulation
Experiences in manipulation abound through natural materials. The site's wetland vegetation serves as a key component for study and experimentation. "Loose parts," such as pebbles in the tufa wall area and the water itself, provide basic elements for creative play and experimentation. The proposed environmental learning center will contain demonstration plots and interactive exhibits that will further enrich formal learning potentials.
sense of place
Meadowbrook Pond provides numerous comfortable settings to pause and rest, and has successfully invited use by its neighboring community as well as schoolchildren. Pamela Miller notes that Meadowbrook Pond has become a focus for the community, and they have taken a sense of ownership in the site. The site is well-used during the day by people of all ages, for walks, jogging, bicycling, exploration, study, and play. Despite informal community policing, the site continues to experience some vandalism. The site's location and accessibility historically attracted teens for parties, and this activity has continued. Miller notes that high school students' participation in plantings and the tufa walls helped foster their sense of stewardship in reporting vandalism (Miller 2000). The scheduling of community events by the "Friends" group and interpretive activities also provides more of a community presence. As the landscape matures, its unique artwork and diverse wildlife (particularly the resident beavers and their constructs) draw people to visit this place of refuge within the city.