David Callahan is Kootenai County's new director of community development. A San Antonio native, Callahan started work here in November of last year after holding a similar position in Fort Morgan, Colo.

If you had it to do over, what would you do with your life?

I'd be a jazz pianist. Jazz is one of the art forms that is cerebral while being all at once emotional. It can reach people in a way that gets to them on multiple levels.

After high school, I was already in the jazz program at University of Texas, Austin, when I realized I had to switch careers. When I saw talent like Lyle Mays and others of that caliber barely eking out an existence, I realized there was some real competition out there and that I wasn't really that talented. I decided that my strengths were in other areas.

How did you learn about landscape architecture as a possible career?

I had some vocational counseling while I was in junior college and that was when the idea of landscape architecture first popped up.

At the same time, my best friend was at Texas Tech and Texas Tech, as it turned out, also had a good landscape architecture program. Oh, and I wanted to get as far away from home as I could and still stay in Texas.

Sounds like the educational equivalent of the trifecta. Do you think you made the right choice?

In the end, I was thrilled with the idea of being a designer. I was at the top of my class and very good at it. It was something entirely new and I positively sank into it and embraced it. I figured I would be a practicing landscape architect for the rest of my life.

What do landscape architects do?

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David Callahan: Planning to solve problems

MONTEVALLO, Alabama -- The Montevallo City Council is considering enlisting the services of a Birmingham landscape architect firm to create a master plan that would outline development of the 167-acre property donated to the municipality last November.

The City Council during its meeting on Monday night briefly discussed using Kelly Landscape Architect to develop the Shoal Creek Park master plan. The document would cover the land donated by Elizabeth A. Mahler and Shoals Creek Farm Inc. located near the Alabama National Cemetery and American Village on both sides of Highway 119.

The donation of land that includes an antebellum home comes with a request to the city to preserve the property as a park and other municipal purposes, possibly the site of a new City Hall.

Kelly Landscape Architect's Chuck Kelly told the council he has submitted a proposal that would create a process for developing the master plan. The process would include public hearings and opportunities for comment.

"A final master plan would be subject to review and comments," Kelly said.

The donation of land appraised at $670,000 includes the white home prominently located off Highway 119 that city leaders are planning on using as a possible museum or visitors center for Montevallo. Plans call for naming the area Shoal Creek Park under Mahler's request.

The council will consider Kelly's request at an upcoming meeting.

Also on Monday night, the council approved an agreement with Lonnie Bearden and John Nix to allow them to use the Mahler property to run up to 60 cattle for grazing on the land.

In exchange for paying rent to the municipality, the two men will maintain fences on the property and keep the hayfields and open areas cut. The lease approved by the council carries a one-year term and can be terminated by either party with a 90-day written notice.

Councilman Don Hughes raised concern about the cattle on the land polluting the creek that runs across the property. The council agreed to approve the contract with a stipulation to abide by any state regulations concerning runoff into the creek caused by the cattle.

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Montevallo working on plans for 167-acre donation along Highway 119

The Landmarks Preservation Commission largely praised a preliminary design for the Town Hall Square Historic District restoration project presented Thursday by architect Mark Marsh and landscape designer Jorge Sanchez.

Well done so far. This is gorgeous, said Commissioner Elizabeth Murphy.

I love the pleached oaks. I think they are brilliant, said alternate member Anne Fairfax, an architect.

The plan calls for adding 22-foot parallel parking spaces and tabby-concrete sidewalks to the perimeter of Memorial Park; changing the existing rows of tall Royal Palms to shorter coconut palms; placing a large kapok tree on each side of the Addison Mizner-designed fountain to create a canopy; adding stairs to the south side of the Addison fountain; installing an allee of live oaks with tops clipped into squares on the south side; and changing parking spaces on the west side of the two-block area of County Road to parallel spaces. The design would increase spaces in the district from 41 to 66.

The stairs make the park much more usable because once you are in the park, you can go down the center, said Commissioner Penny Townsend.

The plan also would increase green space in the island north of the town-owned park and eliminate a curb that divides the park from green space just north of Town Hall.

Thats a big improvement, Murphy said.

Chairman Ted Cooney said hes glad the Town Council has gotten behind the project. In November, the council designated up to $5.7 million through bond financing for park and district improvements, expecting that residents and businesses also would contribute money.

Cooney argued for keeping Royal Palms on each side of the reflecting pool, but others including Murphy, William Feldkamp and William Strawbridge, agreed with Sanchez that tightly spaced rows of the shorter coconut palm would provide more shade. Marsh called Cooneys idea to add narrow landscaped areas to existing sidewalks a good one.

Fairfax suggested that a crosswalk closer to the center of the park might be more convenient than having to use crosswalks at the north and south ends of Town Hall, but Marsh said doing so could cost up to eight parking spaces. District merchants, Marsh said, are thrilled at the prospect of more parking.

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Town Hall Square restoration plan impresses commission

A New Zen Home Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors
A "Mid-Century Marvel" located in the upscale waterfront community of "Coral Shores" Oakland Park/Wilton Manors, Florida! Less than one mile from the beautif...

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A New Zen Home Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors - Video

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Listen and learn about Kings legacy

If youre less into volunteering and more into listening and learning, theres still lots you can do in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The fourth annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Breakfast comes to Clark College, beginning at 9 a.m. Jan. 20 at Gaiser Hall. The subject is violence and the keynote speaker is Dr. Alisha Moreland-Capuia, a doctor and psychiatrist who is an expert in addiction medicine and healing trauma. Tickets start at $30.

Washington State University Vancouvers Jan. 20 Day of Service event features interactive morning workshops and a lunchtime talk on Women and Poverty: Dispelling the Myths and Breaking the Cycle by associate professor of English Desiree Hellegers. She is the author of a book about homeless women in Seattle. RSVP to Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service.

The Bahais of Vancouver will host Beyond the Dream, a showing of videos of Kings lesser-known speeches. That takes place at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 20 at 4016 East 13th Street. Refreshments will be served after the program. Its free.

Clark College hosts Lee Mun Wah, a Chinese American educator and filmmaker, speaking on diversity issues at 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 22 at the Gaiser Student Center. There will be a 1 p.m. student dialog with Wah, and at 5:30 p.m. a showing of Lee Mun Wahs film If These Halls Could Talk, an unflinching look at racism on college campuses, followed by a discussion with the filmmaker. Gaiser Student Center, with light refreshments served.

Next weekend, you may notice big groups of your neighbors roaming the landscape, performing good deeds. You wouldn't want to miss that fun, would you?

What started out as the Martin Luther King Day of Service has evolved, here in Clark County, into an extra-long weekend of opportunities to pitch in and make your world a better place. Clark County, the city of Vancouver, Clark College and Washington State University Vancouver have teamed up to coordinate many activities, from planting trees and painting walls to yanking weeds and building trails..

It's all in honor of slain civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was born on Jan. 15, 1929. His birthday became a federal holiday in 1983. It took another decade for a federal law to create the King Day of Service, which is always the third Monday in January. This year, it's Jan. 20. "Make it a day on, not a day off," is the slogan.

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MLK Day of Service fills more than week

Posted: 1:22 pm Mon, January 13, 2014 By NancyCrotti Finance and Commerce Tags: AECOM, HGA Architects and Engineers, James Corner Field Operations, James/Snow Architects, Julie Snow Architects, Julie Vandenberg Snow, Louis Kahn, Midway Stadium, Mike Veeck, Museum of Russian Art, Phillips Plastics Corp., Robert Cervenka, Ryan Cos. US Inc., Saints ballpark, St. Paul Saints, Vincent James 1:22 pm Mon, January 13, 2014

Editors note: Point Person is a new monthly feature about people who are making news as a result of their involvement in high-profile projects of interest to Finance & Commerce readers.

Julie Snow, who unveiled the design for the St. Paul Saints ballpark in December, has been involved in designing the 7,000-seat stadium for seven years, long before it came to the publics attention. (Staff photo: Bill Klotz)

Architect Julie VandenBerg Snow has designed homes and private office buildings, restaurants and federal customs stations.

She has also put her stamp on such divergent spaces as the Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis and the new St. Paul Saints ballpark.

The winner of numerous awards for her restrained and minimalist designs, Snow elicited this comment in 2011 from an American Academy of Arts and Letters awards jury: She and her studio make the marvelous happen. Elegance balanced by pragmatism she is a ballerina who can dance in work boots.

The founding principal of Minneapolis-based Julie Snow Architects likes to work collaboratively. Its a philosophy she adopted as a young woman studying architecture at the University of Michigan in the early 1970s.

Youre going to be hanging out with the guys and theyre your colleagues, said the Grand Rapids, Mich., native. The real challenge is whether or not there are really great talents in your studio.

If youve got really talented, energetic people, I dont think who you are or where you came from (matters). Youre getting pushed by other people with ideas. To me that was more interesting than gender issues.

Snow has spent her career in Minneapolis, working at HGA Architects and Engineers from 1974 through 1987, when she left to form James/Snow Architects with architect Vincent James. In 1995, she formed her current firm, which also provides interior design services, custom furnishings and furniture specifications. Eighteen people work for the firm.

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Point Person: Meet the architect for Saints ballpark

Landscape Architect migrating from Philippines to Australia
Mabuhay! This is a quick overview on how to migrate from the Philippines to Australia as a Landscape Architect. Jose Respall is a Registered Migration Agent ...

By: Jose Aniceto Respall

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Landscape Architect migrating from Philippines to Australia - Video

by Associated Press

Published: January 10,2014

Tags: bridge, Bridge of Sighs, city government, city of Natchez, community development, David Gardner, engeinner, engineering, infrastructure, Jared Acy, landscape archtiecture, landscape atrchitect, Natchez Preservation Commission

NATCHEZ The City of Natchezs Bridge of Sighs project has been approved by a local preservation commission.

The Natchez Preservation Commission on Tuesday approved a conceptual design by landscape architect Jared Acy.

The Natchez Democrat reports that the project had been delayed for past couple of months after the commission asked the City of Natchez for more detailed plans for the bridge.

The Bridge of Sighs will replicate a now-gone pedestrian bridge at the top of Silver Street. It will allow pedestrians to use the Natchez Trails to cross the street rather than fight traffic. The project has received two $100,000 grants, one from the Federal Highway Administration and another from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.

City Engineer David Gardner has said the project involves using a prefabricated bridge, meaning it will be built off-site by a manufacturer and assembled on location.

Now that the projects preliminary design has been approved, Gardner said the city can create bid guidelines that include the approved design. The commissions input, Gardner said, will also be included in further design details once a builder is selected.

This project is worth of a lot of critiquing because I mean, obviously, weve got to get it right the first time, Gardner said. Its a project that is going to last generations from now, and its just critical that we make it perfect.

Continued here:
Commission approves design of new bridge

KUALA LUMPUR: THE National Landscape Department (JLN) has resumed the construction of a 3.5m high fence along a 4.7km stretch in Bukit Kiara Park, after receiving the go-ahead from the cabinet last August.

JLN director-general Esa Ahmad said the fence was necessary to curb illegal rubber tree tapping and tree felling by illegal immigrants to build settlements, both of which have long been rampant in the park.

The fence was also important to demarcate the park borders, he said.

Esa said the fence was designed according to specifications provided by the Peninsular Malaysia Forestry Department and was wildlife-friendly as it would allow animals to pass underneath.

He also refuted claims by some conservation groups that 3,000 trees were felled to make way for the fence.

"Only about 100 trees, mostly rubber trees, were cut down for the fence project," he said.

The fence is expected to be completed in March.

The slope repair and soil erosion control works at the park, which started on Oct 17 last year, is expected to be completed on Feb 5.

JLN architect Hamzah Hashim, who was also at the site, assured the public that they did not have to worry about another landslide occurring.

"We decided that the best solution was to reduce the steepness of the slope from 60 to 35, followed by the installation of nets and planting of grass along the slope to control soil erosion.

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Fence design is wildlife-friendly

Longtime Kula resident Warren McCord, 79, wears many hats. He and his family have owned and run the Kula Botanical Garden since 1968. McCord, a retired Air Force officer and landscape architect, has participated in environmental activities here for decades and is president emeritus of Maui Outdoor Circle. But since 2001, the project closest to his heart has been the establishment of a Baldwin Avenue bike path.

A less persistent person might have given up long ago.

McCord said he first became interested in the project beginning in 2001, when a bike path from Pa'ia to Makawao was prepared for the county by a Honolulu engineering firm.

Longtime Kula resident Warren McCord, president emeritus of Maui Outdoor Circle, has been an advocate for the Baldwin Avenue bike path since it was first proposed in 2001. Thirteen years later, he believes the project has a broad base of support, and would like to know what is causing the delay.

He said that plan was presented to public in July of same year and reviewed by a group of interested citizen and members of the Outdoor Circle.

"The plan," he said, "proposed widening Baldwin Avenue six feet on the north side and five feet on south side. This design eliminated all the landscaping for houses on the north side and removed every shower tree on south side."

"Needless to say, this design was unacceptable," he recalled. "What came next was a proposal by the Outdoor Circle to modify the original plan. In this version, it would run from the Makawao Cemetery to the Pa'ia Gym totally off the roadway and just below the shower trees. It called for a two-way, ten-foot-wide bicycle and recreation path and would not need to remove any trees or landscape features."

The modified plan was accepted by the county soon after.

"In order to project the shower trees planted by Ethel Baldwin around 1900 and later planting by Mayor Hannibal Tavares," McCord said, "an ordinance was drafted and passed by the council, placing all the shower trees on the exceptional tree list, which gave them legal protection."

McCord said "a second plan was prepared by the same engineering firm and presented in August 2003. This plan was based on the concept of the ten-foot-wide, two-way path below the shower trees. However, it had some grading issues, and both the county and the Outdoor Circle agreed that further thought would need to be given to the area near Rainbow Park. In order to improve the design, the Maui Outdoor Circle proposed a community design review."

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It's Been a Long Road for Baldwin Avenue Bike Path