Lithia Park Master Plan Wins ASLA Award

Beloved by the Ashland community, Lithia Park is as central to the city’s identity as is the annual Oregon Shakespeare festival, which might be more well known to nonresidents. Through a highly transparent process, the MIG design team developed four key themes that define the essence of the park, identified major improvements for the health of the creek that runs through the park and the forest that surrounds it, and created strategies for improving and preserving the park’s iconic features.

“There is a visual consistency throughout the (plan) package that helps to tell their compelling story,” one juror said. “They walked us through how they think. The project recognized not only the immediate planning, but it addressed the legacy and the future."

The new Plan was based on extensive community involvement including an online map-based survey about how people get to the park, where they go and what they do, and a Design Week, a multi-day open studio with working sessions and formal and informal community feedback. “Lithia Park: The Next 100 Years,” is now a guide for the Ashland Park and Recreation Commission, ensuring that Lithia Park continues to shine as Ashland’s jewel for the next 100 years.