Two IL – ASLA Awards
Lakota is happy to announce it just received two awards from the Illinois Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects for two very different projects. Lakota’s work at Hubbard Woods Park received a Merit award in the General Design-Constructed Projects category. This project examined an under-utilized open space and provided improvements to help reinvigorate... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, Project Stories
The Wetlands Initiative
Lakota has just completed a community engagement and master planning process for the Dixon Waterfowl Refuge, a spectacular 3,000-acre wetland and natural area about two hours southwest of Chicago. After almost a century as farmland, in 2001 The Wetlands Initiative turned off the pump and began to restore the Refuge to wetlands. The Refuge today... Read More
Categories: In The News, Project Stories
Empower your Community with These Three Strategies
“There is no power for change greater than a community discovering what it cares about.” — Margaret J. Wheatley As communities’ Allies in Place, we strive to help our clients and their constituents discover those things they care about most, and develop plans that make them come to fruition. We continually look to add to... Read More
Categories: Ideas + Research, Project Stories
In the Community, In the News
Lakota has been in the news again, engaging with suburban communities outside both Chicago and Milwaukee—and those conversations are yielding real results: ACTIVE TOSA: Lakota is leading the effort to create a Recreational Master Plan for Wauwatosa, a community near Milwaukee, WI. Our work, which will address the future of the parks, trails, open spaces, and recreation... Read More
Categories: In The News, Project Stories
Lakota’s Gateway Master Plan Makes the News
The Lakota Group’s work to create a cohesive and community-supported vision for the Forest Preserve of Cook County was recognized yesterday by Doug T. Graham of the Daily Herald. “Although designs for the gateways have not been completed, the goal is for them to convey a sense of welcome, interest, safety and beauty, according to... Read More
Categories: In The News, Project Stories
It’s Award Season at Lakota
Lakota Wins Merit Award for St. Cloud Placemaking The Lakota Group was recently presented with a Merit Award by the Illinois chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ILASLA) for its innovative work in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Engaged to help identify placemaking strategies and opportunities to enhance quality of life, Lakota worked to educate St.... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, In The News, Project Stories
MedQuarter Master Development Plan Wins 2014 APA-Iowa Award for Urban Design; Lakota visits Mason City, rewatches The Music Man
Each year, the Iowa Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA-Iowa) asks its members to nominate plans, projects, and individuals deserving recognition for achievements in planning work. This year, the MedQuarter Master Development Plan was honored by the organization as an exemplary urban design project – one of ten outstanding plans, projects, and individuals recognized. The APA... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, Project Stories
Lakota Bullish about Downtown Kenosha
Scott was the keynote speaker at the annual State of Downtown Kenosha this week, where he told the audience of more than 100 people that the city had a unique asset to build on: its streetcar infrastructure. The event was reported in the Kenosha News under the headline “Boosters bullish about state of downtown Kenosha”... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, Ideas + Research, In The News, Project Stories
Lakota Helps Sisters of BVM in Dubuque Plan for the Future
One of our more unique projects we’ve been working on for the past year or so has been in Dubuque, Iowa with the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Sisters asked that Lakota help develop a plan that would preserve their 108-acre campus in ways that align with their values as they... Read More
Categories: In The News, Project Stories
Mercy Donates Historic Home in Cedar Rapids MedQuarter to Couple
For the past year, The Lakota Group has been working in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on developing a master plan for the newly-created MedQuarter district. While Lakota’s work on the master plan is nearing completion for the Self-Supporting Municipal Improvement District (SSMID), it looks like there is some other news taking place in the district. Recently,... Read More
Categories: In The News, Project Stories
Synthetic Turf’s Presence Grows in Winnetka
A few weeks ago I attended the ribbon cutting for a project I worked on for the Winnetka Park District. The project was the first portion of a Master Plan enhancement to the Park District’s Skokie Playfield complex. It was very rewarding to see the project come to life as it had been a five... Read More
Categories: Ideas + Research, Project Stories
Art-o-mat in the ‘Cloud
Recently, a group of us from Lakota were in St. Cloud, Minnesota, kicking off a Comprehensive Placemaking process. It was an intense, but great, week. We met with a diverse spectrum of people through a range of formal and informal settings. For much of the week we were camped out in a vacant storefront on... Read More
Categories: Ideas + Research, Project Stories
Mastering the Main Street Revitalization Approach
The grassroots Main Street Four-Point Approach, developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, has helped revitalize traditional commercial districts in small towns, suburbs, and urban neighborhoods across the country over the last three decades. Lakota vice president, Nick Kalogeresis, who spent 10 years working for the National Trust Main Street Center as a program... Read More
Categories: Ideas + Research, In The News, Project Stories
Reinvigorating Oak Park through Public Investment
What is the long-term value of investing in high-quality public spaces? And what impact do public infrastructure improvements have on private investment and placemaking? Daniel Grove, associate principal at The Lakota Group, and Scott Freres, principal/president, will be giving a tour of historic Marion Street in Oak Park for the National American Planning Association Conference... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, Ideas + Research, In The News, Project Stories
Happy Holidays!
This photo was taken by Daniel Grove, associate principal at The Lakota Group. The image was taken in the Pleasant District of historic downtown Oak Park, Ill., where The Lakota Group did the streetscape design using a rich variety of materials, such as natural stone, brick street/sidewalk paving, custom site furnishings, a central water feature,... Read More
Categories: Around the Office, Project Stories
Thinking Big for a Backyard Redesign
The Challenge Very few professions elicit requests for help from family, friends and–let’s face it– acquaintances, like landscape architecture does. At some point, essentially every person I have known has asked me some form of this question: “Can you (show me a few ideas/tell me what’s wrong with this tree/pick out some plants/completely redesign) my... Read More
Categories: Around the Office, Project Stories
A Revitalized Marion Street in Oak Park, IL
The project to revitalize downtown Oak Park, Illinois was completed in fall of 2007, when plans to reopen a former pedestrian mall to two-way traffic were carried out. Marion Street, in the heart of the central business district, was transformed into a welcoming streetscape reminiscent of its early 20th century look. The new Marion Street... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, Project Stories
Pullman State Historic Site: ULI Releases Technical Assistance Panel Report
As a follow-up to an earlier post here at the Lakota blog regarding the Pullman State Historic Site, the Urban Land Institute-Chicago District Council just released the Final Report of its Technical Assistance Panel Visit to the site last October. The report provides a summary of the Panel’s findings during its three-day site visit, including... Read More
Categories: Ideas + Research, In The News, Project Stories
Historic Theaters and Revitalizing Traditional Commercial Districts – Recent Lakota Work
Over the past year, the Lakota Group has had a full plate of work with challenging commercial district planning work in three very distinct communities and neighborhoods – the Six Corners commercial district in Chicago’s ethnically diverse northwest side; downtown Kenosha, Wisconsin, once one of the state’s most bustling industrial hubs; and Momence, Illinois, a small... Read More
Categories: Around the Office, Ideas + Research, In The News, Project Stories
Neighborhoods, Master Plans and Tivoli Lights: An End of The Year Lakota Group Update
An old Lakota Sioux proverb says that it takes a thousand voices to tell a single story. We thought it would be a good opportunity to provide a brief update on our project portfolio – projects that showcase the depth and talent of our team of planners and designers. From all of us at Lakota, we... Read More
Categories: Around the Office, Project Stories
Main Street Momence Does A Master Plan
Over the years, The Lakota Group has had the privilege and opportunity to work in many rural towns and small communities throughout the Midwest, ranging in assignments from designing new waterfronts to designing streetscapes and preparing downtown master plans. During the last three years, our Main Street revitalization and historic preservation work has also taken... Read More
Categories: Ideas + Research, Project Stories
Pullman 20 years later – Lakota Participates in ULI Technical Assistance Panel for the Pullman State Historic Site
In April 1991, under former Governor James R. Thompson, the State of Illinois purchased the Pullman Palace Car Company Factory Complex and the adjacent Florence Hotel as part of a newly established state historic site. Those of you may recall from your college history or urban planning classes that Pullman was one of the country’s first... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, Ideas + Research, Project Stories
Naperville recognized for its historic preservation efforts
The Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association recognized the City of Naperville’s historic preservation program with a 2011 Chapter “Best Practice” Award during the Illinois Chapter’s annual conference last week in Evanston. Naperville undertook a two-year community engagement process to strengthen its local historic preservation program by revising its historic preservation ordinance, reconstituting the... Read More
Categories: Awards + Accolades, Project Stories