News Release
World-Wide Entries for Point Pleasant Park Design Competition
(Monday, July 18/05) -- The Point Pleasant Park International Design Competition has drawn interest from around the world.
Thirty-five groups have registered to submit proposals for a master plan for the regeneration, restoration and renewal of the park, which was devastated by Hurricane Juan in September, 2003. The entrants are from the United States (8), Japan (2), China (1), Australia (1), the Netherlands (1), the United Kingdom (1) and Italy (1), as well as Canada (20). The proposals must reach Halifax by July 25, and judging to choose the five winners of Phase One will take place over the weekend of July 29/31.
The entrants will remain anonymous until judging is complete, but the names of the five winners will be announced on Sunday, July 31, when their submissions will be on display. In Part Two of the competition, the five winners will refine and develop their plans so that a final winner can be chosen.
HRM Parkland Planner Stewart MacMillan, who is facilitating the competition, is delighted by the very high profile of many of the entrants.
The jury is composed of:
1) John Abel, director of design and land use of the National Capital Commission, Ottawa, who has practised urban design, architecture and planning in Canada, England and the United States.
2. Bernard Bormann, principal forest ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service, is also a professor in the Department of Forest Science at Oregon State University. The focus of his work is on management impacts and natural processes controlling long-term ecosystem productivity.
3. Peter Jacobs, professor of landscape architecture at the Ecole d'architecture de Paysage, Universite de Montreal, has lectured in Israel, Columbia, China and Europe. His current studies focus on the histories and meanings assigned to landscape in different cultural settings and how these inform management strategies and actions over time.
4. Mark Laird, senior lecturer in landscape architecture at the Harvard Design School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a consultant in historic landscape preservation. He advises on sites in Europe and North America and his recent projects include the Halifax Public Gardens.
5. John E. Zvonar is a conservation landscape architect with the Heritage Conservation Directorate of Public Works and Government Services, Canada. Through his work with the federal government, he has been involved in national historic sites across Canada and abroad.
The Point Pleasant Park International design Competition is a joint venture of Halifax Regional Municipality and Southwest Properties Limited.
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Anne West
Point Pleasant Park Advisory Committee
(902) 422-9446
awest@ns.sympatico.ca
Kim Borgal
HRM Corporate Communications
(902) 490-1539
