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2007 Landmark Award to Charleston Waterfront Park09-11-07 | News

2007 Landmark Award to Charleston Waterfront Park

Designed by Sasaki Associates and completed in 1990,the 13-acre Charleston Waterfront Park includes this live oak-shaded promenade of hand-made local brick. The gardens (right) are the park?EUR??,,????'???s more intimate gathering spaces. Charleston Mayor Joe Riley considers the park “this generation’s gift to the future.” Photo by Craig Kuhner

Charleston Waterfront Park is the 2007 Landmark Award recipient. The award, given by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, recognizes a distinguished landscape architecture project completed between 15 and 50 years ago that has retained its original design integrity and continues to contribute significantly to the community. The award will be present at the ASLA Annual Meeting, October 5-9, in San Francisco.

Previous Landmark Award recipients include the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Golden Gate National Recreation Area near San Francisco and the Morris Arboretum in Philadelphia.

Burned wharf buildings, surface parking and urban decay once blighted the Cooper River landscape. This is the salt marsh and Adger's Wharf today. Photo by Craig Kuhner

As in many cities, Charleston?EUR??,,????'???s waterfront suffered from industrial use and finally abandonment. Charleston?EUR??,,????'???s older port facilities on the Cooper River became defunct and the marshlands ruined. By the early 1980s, the neighborhoods that had grown up around the early port economy were languishing and the waterfront given over to parking areas.

The park restored the water?EUR??,,????'???s edge for public use and integrated significant, sustainable urban design. The jury called the park ?EUR??,,????'??simple, elegant, urbane ?EUR??,,????'??? timeless, and is built to last.?EUR??,,????'??

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley is credited with making the project a reality. This public landscape helped turn the city around and reclaim its waterfront.