Tom Eblen: Landscape architect Lyle Aten's many designs decorate Lexington

You may not have heard of Lyle Aten, but if you live in Lexington, you see his life's work every day.

Since moving here in 1952, the landscape architect has had a hand in creating master plans and site designs for more than 60 projects in Central Kentucky.

Aten and his firm helped design neighborhoods such as Eastland, Cardinal Valley, Lansdowne, Stonewall, Merrick Place, Hamburg, Hartland, Beaumont and Wellesley Heights.

His shopping centers include Lexington Green, Hamburg, Beaumont, Tates Creek Center, Lansdowne, Lansbrook and Palomar.

Aten helped with the realignment of Main and Vine streets downtown and the epic reconstruction of Paris Pike. He worked on the IBM campus, Commonwealth Stadium, Coldstream Research Park and the Lexington Legends' baseball field.

He helped plan Lexington's Jacobson and Phoenix parks, as well as several state parks, including the lodge complex at Lake Barkley.

"I've been very fortunate," said Aten, 86. "I was in the right place at the right time. And, most of the time, I had clients who let me do what I thought was right."

Aten grew up in Macomb, Ill., and didn't know what a landscape architect was until a career counselor gave him an aptitude test and pointed him toward the profession and the University of Illinois.

"Fortunately, I was on the GI Bill or I couldn't have done it," he said.

His timing was perfect: one of his instructors was Hideo Sasaki, who would go on to become one of America's most influential landscape architects and the longtime head of Harvard University's landscape architecture program.

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Tom Eblen: Landscape architect Lyle Aten's many designs decorate Lexington