Small but Mighty: Engaging a Small Community to Realize a Big Vision
Civitas created a nature-in-the-city experience for Black Bay Park – a well-kept secret 60-acre parcel along the Spokane River in the small town of Post Falls, Idaho. While many cities are actively working to reconfigure industrialized parts of their towns into parks, Black Bay Park is already a natural oasis. Keeping the integrity of Black Bay Park’s natural design features was a top priority for not only the team but also for highly engaged members of the community. The design is also motivated by the desire to enhance the arrival experience into the park and provide more amenities ranging from restrooms and trash receptacles to more elaborate play areas, riverfront overlooks, and safe water access, while ensuring the park and the river are easily and comfortably accessible to everyone. Civitas’ goal remains to minimize disturbance to large areas of the park while using a network of boardwalks and new floating docks to activate the community’s connection to the river. Extensive riverbank restoration will mitigate erosion, protecting and restoring the riparian ecosystem.
Practices provided
Master planning, urban planning, landscape design
Master planning, urban planning, landscape design
Partners
Client: City of Post Falls
Architect: Bernardo Wills Architects
Engineers: T.O Engineers
