SE Group’s Minnesota Discovery Center Master Plan project has received the Vermont Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects’ (VTASLA) 2022 Award of Excellence for Planning, Research, and Analysis, the competition’s highest honor. The biennial Awards Program honors works in landscape architectural design, planning, communications, or research completed by members of VTASLA or for projects completed within Vermont by members of out-of-state American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) members. The awards were judged by an impartial jury of five landscape architects from the Alabama ASLA Chapter.

The Minnesota Discovery Center is a nonprofit museum and event complex in Chisholm, Minnesota that tells the story of the region’s mining history. SE Group was hired to develop a plan to reinvigorate the Center’s amenities and capitalize on the region’s shift to an outdoor recreation economy – while staying true to their original mission.

Senior Landscape Architect Patrick Olstad and Senior Recreation Planner Andrew Pollak-Bruce, CPRP led the master planning process. The result was a strong demonstration of SE Group’s multidisciplinary team collaboration, delivering a site-specific design that promotes a more engaging and cohesive family-friendly experience, with a visual character rooted in the local landscape. With a focus on revenue generation opportunities, the plan also includes financial modeling and implementation recommendations to support the long-term financial sustainability of the Center.

For more information on this year’s VTASLA winners, please visit their Awards page.

SE Group is honored to receive awards for both the Project of the Year and Plan of the Year by the Vermont Planners Association.

Project of the Year: The City of South Burlington’s Market Street Reconstruction Project
This $21M streetscape design project, which began in 2012, was recently completed in 2019. The street is the cornerstone of the City Center project. With colorful perennial plantings, permeable brick pavers and generous sidewalks, the stage has been set for an attractive mixed-use center. A “stormwater park” with native plantings and public art provides a relaxing space away from traffic, while also supporting wildlife such as amphibians and songbirds. SE Group’s involvement has spanned the entire 7-year period—from early conceptual work to detailed streetscape design and construction review. 

Plan of the Year: Enosburg Falls Vital Village Master Plan
The Vital Village Master Plan promotes the economic development and community health for the Town of Enosburg Falls, VT.  Key concepts of the plan explored streetscape and community enhancements supporting complete streets, access management, improved multi-modal connections, beautification, wayfinding, and storefront/façade enhancements. Innovative public engagement strategies were central to the plan’s development. Technology-based formats like virtual village walking tours delivered through an engaging StoryMap were combined with simple “meet people where they are” grassroots workshops. Notably, one public event in the village center utilized the talents of local artists to complete a crosswalk, streetscape, and public art pop-up demonstration project. The resulting Master Plan provides an actionable implementation strategy—identifying development opportunities around the recreation tourism economy, an improved pedestrian-friendly streetscape, and a unified community identity.

A recent article on the continuing efforts in Enosburg, and the community’s resiliency even during COVID-19, was featured on Vermont Public Radio.

The Town Forest Planning Toolkit: Supporting recreation planning in small towns

Beginning in 2017 SE Group worked with VT Urban & Community Forestry Program (VT UCF) and an inter-agency working group of Vermont state agencies and the UVM Extension’s Tourism Research Center to engage 10 select communities in a robust planning process to develop action-based town forest recreation plans. An important overarching goal was to create a road map, The Town Forest Planning Toolkit, which provides all communities with an established and proven process to create plans for their own town forest. This session will include an overview of the project and discussion of the toolkits that were prepared.

Contact Mark or Ellie learn more about the presentation, or to connect with them at the event.

The Vermont Public Places Awards program recognizes special public spaces, the corridors that connect them, or networks of public spaces which have been defined or enriched by planning or design, as well as regulations that promote positive public uses and benefits.

Vermont Town Forest Recreation Planning Project | Honor Award
SE Group worked with VT Urban & Community Forestry Program (VT UCF) and an interagency working group to engage 10 Vermont communities in a robust planning process to develop action-based town forest recreation plans. A key outcome of the project was the development of the Vermont Town Forest Recreation Planning Toolkit, which provides guidance documents, designs, case studies, best practices, and standards that empower any town to complete  the planning process on their own.

Underwood Park Master Plan | Merit Award
SE Group worked with the City of South Burlington to develop a master plan for the recently acquired Underwood Park. The innovative plan honors the legacy of the site while also addressing the communities needs for recreation, natural resource protection and restoration, and community events. Not every city park holds the potential for both working farm fields and a community event space in one package, and the SE Group was honored to work with the community to craft such a unique vision.

For information on either of these projects contact Drew Pollak-Bruce.

SE Group is particularly proud to share these awards with the Town of Chester. Through the efforts of the project’s steering committee and municipal staff, the Town worked diligently to assure the development of a plan that recognized the important historic character of this quintessential Vermont village and emphasized the value of bringing the community together.

This plan has set a new bar for implementation. From the onset, a major focus of SE Group’s efforts was to identify specific and actionable initiatives that advanced the broad vision the Master Plan and supported momentum. In just the past few months the Town has moved forward with signage and wayfinding efforts, is reviewing its land use code to better support historic resources, and is developing a new pocket park. The Town has also recently secured a Transportation Assistance Program grant to design and implement a new pedestrian connection between the Chester Depot and Main Street. Each of these initiatives was fostered in the Master Plan.

Chester is on the move and SE Group couldn’t be more excited for this terrific community!

Learn more about the plan by visiting the portfolio page.

The CPRP is granted to individuals employed in the recreation, park resources and leisure services professions who meet the eligibility requirements—including a combination of higher education and/or work experience—and who successfully complete the national CPRP examination. The examination tests knowledge in all aspects of general administration, programming, and operations management for parks and recreation. This hard-earned achievement exemplifies Drew’s dedication and commitment as an industry leader in the recreation and tourism field.

The NRPA is a national, not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing park, recreation, and conservation efforts that enhance quality of life for all people. Through its network of 20,000 recreation and park professionals and citizens, NRPA encourages the promotion of healthy lifestyles, recreation initiatives, and conservation of natural and cultural resources. For more information, visit www.nrpa.org.