Skip to main content
ASLA 2024 Conference on Landscape Architecture Main banner
Back

Concurrent Education Session

TUE-C01: Come to the River: Tom Lee Park and Inclusive Placemaking for Memphis

Tuesday, October 8, 2024
3:45pm – 5:00pm ET
Location: Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Center Stage -Salon I
1.25 PDH, LA CES/HSW, AICP, NY/HSW, FL

What happens when inclusive placemaking and inspired landscape design come together? The new Tom Lee riverfront park has been lauded for both its beauty and its welcoming ethos and is beloved by Memphians. Learn how the park took shape over years of robust engagement, collaborative design, and technical construction.

Learning Outcomes:

  • Learn about the process of building political support and fundraising for a project deeply rooted within the community.
  • Learn how inclusive landscapes are shaped through engagement, programming that reflects Memphis’s Black culture, and engaging with community members who are historically left out of the planning process.
  • Learn about the collaborative design process and how park features emerged from an overlay of community engagement, riverine ecology, and new social spaces for gathering, play, and reflection.
  • Learn about the technical development, challenges, and solutions of building a landscape at the edge of the Mississippi River on highly compacted ground.