Connecticut ASLA Chapter

Reported By Jeff Mills, CTASLA Executive Director

Bill Pollack, ASLA, Chapter President, 2010
Jeff Olszewski, ASLA, Chapter President, 2011

The Merritt Parkway, a threatened historic landscape treasure, was the focus of a CTASLA program in April.

The Connecticut Chapter of ASLA is completing one of its most successful years ever. To help its members meet continuing education requirements both in Connecticut and nearby New York State, and to help educate key publics about important aspects of landscape architecture, the chapter conducted five very successful CEU programs during 2010, which drew more than 300 participants to learn about: Permeable Paving & Natural Stone in Green Sustainable Design (January); The Merritt Parkway: An Historical, Cultural and Technical Look at a National Landscape Treasure (April); The Sustainable Sites Initiative: An In-Depth Look into a Transformative Approach to Land Development and Management Practices (May); Native Plants in the Designed Landscape, featuring Ken Druse (June); and LEDs, Dark Skies and Bright Lights: A Better Approach, featuring Janet Lennox Moyer (November). CTASLA rounded out the year with its annual award banquet and holiday dinner, sponsored by Unilock, in December.

Merritt Parkway Bridge detail.

During two weeks in April, the state capitol in Hartford played host to a display of landscape architectural works by members of CTASLA. The exhibit featured Connecticut Design Award winners as well as other poster boards showcasing the contributions of landscape architects on more than 100 feet of wall space. The chapter also celebrated Landscape Architecture Month by co-sponsoring a conference on Frederick Law Olmsted Day, which explored threatened Hartford parks, and by giving its annual Olmsted Award to Steve Broderick, a state leader in forest conservation and education.

In June, the chapter awarded $4,000 in scholarships to two worthy students from the University of Virginia and University of Connecticut as a result of its annual scholarship program, funded in part by the chapter?EUR??,,????'?????<

The Chapter also successfully worked at the legislative level to update the state statutes to allow landscape architects to be principal owners of firms offering multidisciplinary services, correcting an outdated section of the law that was prejudicial to landscape architects.

Salmon phlox in bloom at the Sunken Garden at Hillstead Museum, Farmington, CT, the location of CTASLA?EUR??,,????'?????<

Print materials published this year included a thick annual Handbook for members and two editions of The Connecticut Landscape Architect magazine, which reached more than 1,200 readers and which featured the chapter?EUR??,,????'?????<

The executive committee is energized to carry these successes into 2011 and is committed to a strategic planning process during the next several months that will hone the chapter?EUR??,,????'?????<

Susan Cohen, FASLA, Susan Cohen Landscape Architect, Riverside, Conn. Category: Leadership/Management

Whitney Talcott, FASLA, Talcott & Assoc., Old Lyme, Conn. Category: Service to the Profession

To view more reports from the 2010 ASLA Chapter Reports click here.