From an essential trade route for the Potawatomi tribe, to a public landfill, and finally becoming the first park in South Bend, Indiana, Howard Park has had a long and varied history. Over the last several decades, the park and its many beloved and formerly well-used additions had fallen into disuse and disrepair. Identified through extensive community engagement, in 2015 the City spearheaded a plan to reimagine Howard Park. Four guiding principles were identified to measure project considerations: stewardship, ecology, inclusivity, and surprise and delight. These driving forces ensured the redevelopment would demonstrate good stewardship of the community's funds, be ecologically sound, and be equitable and multi-generational by drawing people from all walks of life, ethnicities, income levels, ages, and abilities.
The goal of this renewal project was to re-envision the nearly 13-acre park as a premier regional destination, challenging what the design could bring to residents and visitors. Over three years and countless hours of community engagement with residents and local business owners, a master plan and program were developed that expanded upon the existing community center and ice rink use of the park. Efforts to introduce state-of-the-art facilities and a commitment to sustainability led the design team to incorporate a range of strategies to ultimately achieve LEED gold certification.

 
A variety of urban design strategies and site elements define the overall framework of the park, moving parkgoers from urban edge, through an active park core, into a flexible passive/event lawn space, and down to the river walk. The buildings respond to the urban context by fronting the street, while adaptive interior and exterior spaces accommodate a range of year-round uses. A corner plaza invites pedestrians from the public sidewalk into the site, the community center's main entrance roof lifts to welcome visitors, and a caf???(C), run by a local partnering restaurateur, anchors the west end. A skate rental concession and support building provide a backdrop on the east. This urban edge engages the active core of the park, while the park activities enliven the urban spaces, encouraging customers to spill out into the park to enjoy the many outdoor amenities, including a bocce ball court, caf???(C) seating, sinuous seat walls, fire pit nooks, and a transformable fountain. Operating as a splash pad in the summer, the fountain can also be cordoned off and set to display mode where water rises 20 feet into the air for large celebrations. Featuring coordinated lighting and plexiglass light tube covers for the jets, the fountain is transformed into an interactive sculptural lighting element in winter, making it truly a source of year-round enjoyment.

The expansive park provides a variety of nested spaces and is universally accessible. A state-of-the-art ice pond and trail gracefully envelop an ADA accessible playground that accommodates all ages and abilities with ramps and platforms designed for wheelchairs and strollers. Custom play towers, varied play equipment, and dramatic mounds shape the unique identity. The ice trail encircling the playground gently slopes up and down to enhance the skating experience, crossing over a bridge that allows access to the playground from below during winter months. Removable side boards enclose the rink and trail for safety and enable it to become an open plaza and trail for use during the remainder of the year. Stepped outcropping stones modulate the topographic change at the bridge, creating a garden that showcases native species also used in the engineered bioswales along the park floodplain. Serving as an outdoor classroom and nature play area, this space pays homage to the prolific use of stone in Howard Park's history which includes the preserved Lodge and river edge stonework built by the Federal Works Progress Administration in the 1930's.

An event lawn directly west of the rink is programmed regularly year-round for events and concerts. Walkways were carefully designed to accommodate semi-trailers to haul in a portable stage, while extensive regrading accomplished ADA compliant walkways and positive drainage toward the engineered bioswales along the St. Joseph River. Designed to manage 128% of site runoff, the bioswales help to abate record flooding seen in recent years while treating stormwater runoff. Interpretive signage provides engagement and education about the natural systems at play.
While stormwater management is an integral piece of the sustainability infrastructure, the broader design accommodates a range of interior and exterior strategies that promote sustainability and mitigate the effects of climate change. An existing parking area was completely removed from the park to provide more open space, with public parking incorporated along the street and within the shared-use lot to the east. Electric vehicle charging stations were installed to promote clean vehicle use and reduce overall emissions. Fountain equipment includes a filtration system to allow water to recirculate, and waste heat from ice production is used to melt ice collected by the Zamboni. LED lighting throughout the park has dimming capability to provide lower lighting levels at off-hours and reduce light pollution. Building facilities feature numerous sustainability strategies, including rooftop solar panels to provide renewable energy, low-flow fixtures to reduce water waste, and low-emitting materials used in the paints, flooring, and walls to help create a healthy indoor environment. Furthermore, over 75% of all construction waste was diverted from the landfill.

In addition to creating a sustainable regional destination park, a key focus was to create an inclusive venue that is both multi-seasonal and multi-generational, builds upon the history of South Bend, and embraces its location on the St. Joseph River. Data from the opening season suggests that the park has begun to fulfill this vision. In the first two months of operation, an estimated 100,000 people visited the park. Data from the opening season concluded that the park hosted 40,843 skaters and over 800 students on school trips, sold 547 individual and 258 family season passes, and increased area business revenue by 10-15% due to park visitor patronage. Events data reveals the park is used by a range of constituencies, hosting everything from an intimate military graduation to a mass Juneteenth celebration. The Skate-it-Forward program, an equity-based program providing funds for skating to children and families who cannot otherwise afford it, provided discounted skating to 298 individuals and a total of 3,450 give-away free skating tickets in the first two seasons.

From the beginning, the Howard Park renovation project was a true collaboration by the design team, City staff, and community stakeholders, inspired by the visionary leader of South Bend Venues Parks and Arts. The Landscape Architect led the design efforts for the entire site and the various specialty areas and use zones established by the program. This role included interfacing with the architect on building siting, function, materials, and design; MEP engineers on ice trail layout and water feature mechanics; civil engineers on transforming topographical challenges into opportunities; structural engineers on bridge design; and LEED consultants on elements ranging from LED lights and bike racks, to native plants and water usage. The Landscape Architect relished this opportunity to bring all members of the team together to meet the City's challenge to reinvigorate "everybody's park" through an open, cooperative process.