Invitation to Public Project Site Tour

Ft. Missoula Regional Park, Missoula

On behalf of the Idaho-Montana Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), I would like to extend an invitation to you for a special guided tour of one of western Montana’s special gems – Fort Missoula Regional Park in Missoula on Thursday, August 29th, 2019 at 10 a.m. Fort Missoula Regional Park is a 156-acre park and sports complex owned and operated by the City of Missoula and Missoula County that was funded by the county-wide 2014 Parks and Trails Bond, which included $38 million for construction at FMRP. The site tour will provide an insight on the cutting-edge approaches landscape architects employ to design sustainable landscapes, and how vital public investments are to ensure that communities reap the benefits of these extraordinary places.

This tour will enhance your understanding on how landscape architects employ design and ingenuity to transform landscapes into iconic community gems – benefiting Missoulians and visitors to our region. As a large public recreational space, the Fort Missoula Complex has a proven track record of enhancing economic prosperity and is a strong contributor to the success of Missoula businesses and the region’s overall commercial development.

This site tour, led by Neil Miner, ASLA, PLA, Missoula Parks Project Manager, is an informal opportunity for you to see how landscape architects utilized site design, grading, drainage, and horticulture to create a special place adjacent to the historic Fort Missoula. The site tour will also include an open discussion about the landscape architecture profession, its benefits and its contributions to our region. It will highlight the role that landscape architects play as key design team members working tirelessly to overcome the maintenance backlog that plagues nearly all of our public parks and recreation areas.

We expect the entire tour to take about one hour. To accept our invitation, please have a member of your staff contact me at (406) 721-3500 or kentwla@gmail.com. For your information, other federal, state, county and local policy makers are being extended this same invitation. The local media are also invited to cover the Tour.

Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to providing you a unique experience of the many facets of the Regional Park from a landscape architect’s perspective. Thank you for all that you do on the behalf of our region and the landscape architecture community.

Yours truly,

Kent E. Watson, FASLA, PLA

Chair, IM/ASLA Public Project Site Tour Committee (08/09/19)