Preliminary plans
have been set in motion for Owen County’s landscape architectural
project.
What is being called “the next step” to the Owen
20/20 project, is a presentation of ideas by students at the
University of Kentucky.
As part of their requirements to graduate, students in the landscape
architecture program at UK must participate in a “service
learning project.”
Brian Lee, assistant professor of landscape architecture at
UK, said the project allows the students to learn while giving
back to a community.
The landscape architecture project looks at several possible
growth scenarios for a community. It considers the community’s
history as well as economic possibilities, recreational possibilities
and infrastructure. The 15 students working in Owen County will
find out what the community wants in terms of growth and development.
They will not implement their ideas, only present them to the
community.
This is one of many projects the department has done since the
project began in 1984. Other counties that have been involved
in previous years include Oldham, Pendleton and Washington.
Washington County agriculture extension agent Rick Greenwell
calls the project “the most wonderful opportunity you
could want.”
He has seen the students’ work firsthand, when Washington
County was chosen for participation in the project four years
ago. The project served as a master plan for land-use management,
and Greenwell said it questioned where the county wanted to
be in 20 years and how community residents could make that happen.
“They kept us from making some horrible mistakes,”
Greenwell said.
He also said the project opened the eyes of some of the leadership
in Washington County.
In Owen County, agriculture extension agent Kim Strohmeier said
he thinks the project is a good idea, and wants to be involved.
He has met with Lee and seen the work the project has done in
Elliott, Pendleton and Oldham counties.
“I was really impressed with the quality of it, “
Strohmeier said. “There were several ideas on how the
county could grow and develop.”
He said he thought it would be a nice asset to the county, and
that he saw it as a “logical follow-up to the 20/20 project.”
That project involved more than 2,200 Owen residents participating
in an initial visioning project for the community and was required
before the community could be considered for the Landscape Architecture
project. Between March and May of 2005, responses from more
than 20 percent of the county’s residents were collected
with questions centering around the heritage of the community,
the immediate improvements needed, the vision for the future
and the change needed to ensure that vision is realized. The
large response was an important indicated of residents’
desire to impact the future of the county. Strohmeier said usually
responses are only received from less than 5 percent of a county
in similar projects.
“That tells me it’s not a problem in this county,”
he said. “People want their voice to be heard and do what
they can to make their county a better place.”
Strohmeier then made the request that the program consider Owen
for the landscape architecture program after seeing the plan
presented to Elliott County two years ago.
The project will be completed next spring and Strohmeier encourages
the ideas of county residents.
The students participating in this project will work for one
semester, and will start in January. All 15 are part of a five-year
undergraduate program and this course counts for six credits.
They will be working around 36 hours a week on the plan for
Owen County.
Students will spend several days in the community initially
and will then develop several scenarios to be presented to community
residents. Input from the community is needed to make the project
a success.
Initial meetings will be held Feb. 15-17. A progress report
will be given on March 8, and the final presentation of ideas
will be April 23.
Though many projects have been completed throughout the state,
each one is unique.
For example, Lee said, Owen County is located near the Kentucky
River. The project will look at its use for possible tourism
and recreation,, something that would help the economic possibilities
of the county.
“We try to capitalize on the strengths of every community,”
Lee said.
