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Originally designed by Jens Jensen in 1918, Chicago’s Columbus Park is widely regarded as his masterpiece. By 2003, however, the park’s original council ring—the only surviving example in the city—had been reduced to stone rubble. Only the trees from Jensen’s plan remained; all the shrubs, perennials and low plants had been removed.
The landscape architect’s task was to rehabilitate the children’s playground areas to match (as closely as possible) their original condition between 1915 and 1920. Because the park is a designated National Historic Landmark and the children’s play area is a contributing feature, great care was taken to reuse all original materials in their historic locations. The council bench slabs were reused, including those that were broken, as well as the flagstones and edge stones that appear around the sand play area. The plant palette closely hews to Jensen’s original, with slight modifications to ensure a safer and more sustainable landscape. For example, in order to allow views in and out of the council ring area, it is not as fully enclosed as historic photos suggest. Finally, the flagstone path that originally ended at the lawn was extended to the shelter, unobtrusively incorporating accessibility into the classic design.
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