Our watershed assessment class recently visited Moore Memorial Park, north of campus, to study a pond on the property. I don't think I had ever paid much attention to the architecture of this shelter, but it took my breath away when I crested the hill from the parking lot and this behemoth structure appeared. My soils prof from Lakeside Lab taught me that we see what we know and the beauty of the barn has been on my radar since this summer.
The land for the park was bequeathed to the city from the Moore family estate. The property was originally a dairy farm which furnished milk for the family's downtown production facility back in the 40's.
Down the hill to the southwest is a restored farm building with an adjoining silo. Along the lower edge of the property, next to Squaw Creek, is prairie, then woodland. My favorite design feature, other than the architecture that respects the history of this site, is a thick braid of Eastern White Pine that follows the slope of the land running down to the river. Even when the park is populated by picnickers, runners, joggers, or children playing on the play structure, one can escape into the quietude of this bosque of pine and disappear from the the rush and tumble of the world.
