The Boston Society of Architects has awarded a Citation of Urban Design for the MacArthur Park District Master Plan. The plan was designed by the University of Arkansas Community Design Center, working with architect William Conway of Conway and Schulte Architects in Minneapolis and landscape architect Tom Oslund of Oslund and Associates, also in Minneapolis. Conway and Oslund are both former visiting professors at the Fay Jones School of Architecture at the University of Arkansas. The Community Design Center is an outreach program of the school.

MacArthur Park District Master Plan

Little Rock’s historic MacArthur Park was cut off from its surrounding neighborhoods in the 1960s, with the construction of interstate highways 30 and 630. In 2008, the city of Little Rock requested proposals to redesign and revitalize the park.

“The design that we presented to the city will restore Arkansas’ premiere urban park as an anchor for a larger urban landscape network,” said Stephen Luoni, director of the Community Design Center. “This green network will connect tree-lined streets, boulevards, neighborhood pocket parks, active recreation facilities, plazas, and other pedestrian amenities, amplifying the untapped livability potential of this portion of downtown Little Rock. We’re very pleased that the city approved the plan and delighted that it has been recognized for this prestigious design award.”

This is the first year that design professionals from outside the New York and Boston areas were eligible to compete in the annual Urban Design Award program. The 2009 winners will be exhibited at the annual Build Boston National Expo in November and be published in the annual Design Review by the Boston Society of Architects.

This award is the second received by the MacArthur Park District Master Plan. In February the project received a design award from the Minnesota chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.