Plans for a gazebo at Undine Park promise to resurrect a piece of the park’s history and add a new gathering place.
The idea for a new gazebo at Undine Park came from the Laramie community itself thanks to the people of Friends of Undine Park. The park once had a large gazebo that stood for decades before being torn down. The aim of the new gazebo, which will be done sometime in 2017, is to fill the void left when the old gazebo was torn down.
Paul Harrison, director of the Parks & Recreation Department, said he believes the gazebo is a good way to bring the community together.
“Any time we can go back to our roots and look at history and look at what was there and have the neighborhood have an invested interest in our city parks is always a good thing,” Harrison said. “It’s kind of nice to be able to embrace what was originally there and try to replicate it to give the neighborhood, the community, what it wants.”
Russell and Mills Studios in Fort Collins are designing the structure. Mary Taylor, a designer for Russell and Mills, said they met with members of the Laramie community and are committed to working alongside the people to build something everybody can enjoy.
“We just had a public meeting with the community members in Laramie and we talked about it and got suggestions about what kind of materials they want to see in the Undine Park pavilion. It’ll be used for wedding, concerts; the artisan market that happens there, a plethora of different events can happen there,” Taylor said.
Taylor also said they plan to make the pavilion with a “craftsman feel.” The size of the gazebo is not finalized, but it will be between 30 and 40 feet in diameter and it’ll be in an octagon shape to optimize the space being set aside for the gazebo. She also said Russell and Mills plans to use historical information to inform some of the design aspects of the structure.
“We’re going to try and keep the historical integrity of the design as much as we can,” Taylor said.
The people of Laramie also expressed enthusiasm about the project. Spencer Humphrey, a UW student, said the gazebo would be a great addition for the city’s older citizens.
“I think it’d be a good idea just because it’s another place for people to rest, specifically older people when they come to the park,” Humphrey said. “It’s hard for them to enjoy it, especially during the summer when it’s so sunny and hot out. It’d be a nice place for them to hang out.”
Isadora Helfgott, an assistant professor in the department of history, is a frequenter of the park and said she thinks it would be a nice addition to the park’s tapestry of activities.
“I would say that anything that promotes diverse uses of the park is probably a good thing. Birthday parties, picnics, events, we use this park for soccer, for group picnics, we come to the water park and playground all the time and the farmer’s market. All those things are different ways people use the park and it makes me happy,” Helfgott said.
Bryan Martin, a Laramie resident, said he likes the idea of adding something new to Undine.
“Where the city’s planning on putting it, it’s kind of an out of the way spot, and it’s kind of an empty spot in the park, so it’s nice to have something there. I think anything that brings more people to Undine, which is kind of one of the forgotten parks, is a good thing and it’s nice to have something here,” Martin said.
Fellow Laramie resident Erin Martin is also looking forward to what the gazebo has to offer the community.
“I think it’s a great idea. I think people would definitely use it and it would make the park that much more attractive. That’ll spark interest for people having weddings in the park and other big events like that,” Martin said.
There is another community meeting planned in the next few weeks without a finalized date during which Russell and Mills will gather more community feedback on how the project should move forward.
