Major Forest Park Restoration Wins Prestigious Landscape Architect Landmark Award
Since the restoration a quarter-century ago, the project’s features have offered new pathways, provided recreational opportunities and gathering spaces, and returned the waterways to native riparian habitats. Above is pictured a bridge over the waterway connecting Post-Dispatch Lake to Emerson Grand Basin.
A major restoration project that helped define Forest Park’s dramatic comeback has received the prestigious Landmark Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).
“Restoring the Glory, the Restoration of Forest Park” reflects the lasting impact of Forest Park Forever and the City of St. Louis’ restoration of the central features of the Park connecting Emerson Grand Basin, Art Hill, Post-Dispatch Lake and Government Hill.
The Landmark Award is “bestowed upon a distinguished, sustainable landscape project completed 15–50 years ago that retains its design integrity and continues to provide significant benefits to the community.” Since this project was completed nearly a quarter-century ago with funding from Forest Park Forever donors and the City of St. Louis, these historic features in a previously declining urban park have become must-see destinations for first-time and daily visitors alike.
Post-Dispatch Lake connects views of Government Hill and World’s Fair Pavilion with Picnic Island, Art Hill, Emerson Grand Basin and more.
These features recall the Park’s history and the significance of the 1904 World’s Fair while offering contemporary, memory-making experiences for today’s 15.5 million annual visitors — whether they’re taking a morning jog or stroll, boating on Post-Dispatch Lake, shooting prom or wedding photos at Emerson Grand Basin, enjoying the outdoors on their way to the Saint Louis Zoo, Art Museum, Science Center, Missouri History Museum or Muny, or enjoying a picnic and flying a kite on Art Hill.
Some of these activities that have become cherished traditions, like the annual Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra season kickoff on Art Hill or the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, were not even contemplated when the project was conceived. But all have become part of the fabric of the Park and the St. Louis region thanks to the project design and continued maintenance by Forest Park Forever’s public-private partnership with the City of St. Louis.
The awards jury praised the vision, historical connection and cultural relevance of the project:
What a grand vision and grand park. Beautifully done to connect the past to the present. An extraordinary example of guiding the next generation of a historic landscape into the 21st century culture of recreation. The park stands out among the top 10 best urban parks in our country, and this award is a well-deserved honor.
A visitor enjoys the views over Emerson Grand Basin from the west flower beds on Art Hill.
Where Art Hill was once a golf hole, and stagnant, disconnected ponds characterized many of the Park’s low-lying areas, today there is a cohesive, thoughtfully imagined experience.
The Taylor Kindle River was connected to Emerson Grand Basin to expand storm storage capacities and provide recreational opportunities like boating, fishing, and skating. Vast areas of turf grass and non-native tree species were removed, and the waterway was returned to native riparian habitat, while landscape plantings restored the original woodlands, prairie, riparian, and aquatic habitats. Within Post-Dispatch Lake, two new islands were created for picnicking, a new beach was established, and wildlife habitat was vastly improved. A path system weaves through the area and connects to the Park’s dual recreational path system.
St. Louis-based firms HOK (Grand Basin, Post-Dispatch Lake, Government Hill) and SWT Design (Art Hill) were engaged for the redesign of these features that still delight visitors a quarter-century later.
The award was announced in late 2025 at the ASLA national conference in New Orleans and is being celebrated locally this week at the Dennis & Judith Jones Education and Visitor Center in Forest Park during the ASLA’s Central States 2026 Conference.