When Marysville city officials needed help with a redevelopment project, they turned to nearby Kansas State University and a landscape architecture class taught by WSU sculpture graduate Katie Kingery-Page ’96.
“It turned out to be an exciting project,” says Kingery-Page. “It fulfilled our teaching and service missions to engage with real-life projects that bring together students and communities in need of service.”
The Marysville project was to redevelop the downtown 7th Street corridor, which was being traversed by more than 70 trains a day. The idea was to route the trains around the city and develop a design that would re-energize the area and strengthen the community’s identity.
Kingery-Page began project work by having her third-year architecture students meet with town officials and representatives from the architectural firm of Schwab-Easton. The students developed plans addressing public gathering spaces, parking, sculpture and pavement designs — and a rail-to-trail concept for the old rail bed.
The students’ designs were incorporated into the overall plans. And Kingery-Page reports that the completed design received a Governor’s Award for Excellence at the most recent Kansas Main Street and Pride conference.
