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Unique UI Partnership joins in Cascade’s dream
Story by Bill Loftus
Cascade’s population jumped by 6 percent one October weekend when 60 students and faculty from the University of Idaho College of Art and Architecture (CAA) arrived to present their visions of how the town might take greater advantage of its natural beauty.
CAA teams first visited Cascade in September to get a feel for dreams and challenges facing this town of nearly 1,000.
At stake is what could happen to a potential park stretching 2.5 miles through town along the Payette River. Few travelers even know it is there. What could make the river more visible? Could an Olympic-style kayak park generate tourism? Could an oasis for birdwatchers? Paths for bikers? Student drawings delivered in October follow an intensive 18-month community conversation made possible through UI Extension and a Northwest Area Foundation Horizons grant that encouraged residents to share thoughts on local issues, improve their leadership skills, and take action to address poverty and other town challenges.
Cascade doesn’t yet have a rapid-filled park like the photo.
But an Olympic-quality kayak park is one option being considered
by UI landscape and architecture students working with town residents.
Town gets fresh ideas; students work with real clients
Working in teams, students are part of a novel UI effort to encourage students and communities to work together to solve problems. Jesse Buster spent a summer internship interviewing residents and studying the park site, giving his education a life-sized context.
Back on campus, Buster shared three site designs with teams of other architecture and landscape students in studios led by Wendy McClure, Gary Austin, and Donna Plunkett.
Faculty-student teams visited
Cascade twice this fall
Their September scouting trip prepared students to draft plans to guide development between two bridges along Highway 55 and at strategic Cascade Lake and Payette River access points. Students also designed projects to support broader goals—enhancing Cascade’s commercial areas, neighborhoods, and Armstrong Park. Concepts range from simple inexpensive ones to grander long-term projects that may require grant funds. While there’s no completion timetable yet, student involvement will continue at least into 2010.
Fighting poverty; considering a town makeover
Cascade residents are still surfing waves of change from loss of the lumber mill that once fueled the town’s economy to the highly publicized triumphs and troubles of neighboring Tamarack resort.
Cascade Mayor Dick Carter attended the first UI Extension-sponsored Horizons meeting in 2007 to learn how the program could help his town prosper and reduce its 17 percent poverty rate. He’s still involved. Carter welcomes student involvement and credits UI Extension’s Valley County educator Barbara Bromley-Brody with being “the most unsung hero at Cascade. She got people together, and you could tell that she had a lot of good support.”
Because of Bromley-Brody’s work inviting the whole community into discussions and action, the mayor now sees “increased participation in all phases of local life. Things are happening because of Horizons.”
UI’s interdisciplinary approach: Cascade’s the pioneer
The University of Idaho now formally encourages colleges to work together to benefit Idaho communities. UI colleges seek ways to give students real-world problem-solving experience by cooperating with UI Extension, whose faculty already live and work in 42 Idaho counties. It’s a model that can benefit everyone.
“Cascade is the first community to engage in this extended partnership,” says Bromley-Brody. She sees current student involvement as representing “the desire of the citizens of Cascade, Horizons, UI Extension, and the College of Art and Architecture to partner to better help Idaho’s communities while giving students real-world experience.”
At the helm of the design project is Stephen Drown, landscape architecture department head and leader of the UI’s new Idaho Bioregional Planning and Community Design Program. Its graduate students are developing a “bioregional atlas” documenting the region’s natural and cultural history. That, in turn, will lead to students crafting a regional plan during spring 2009.
Students including intern Jesse Buster, top,
discuss park concepts.
photos by Pam Benham, Mark LaMoreaux,
and Dan Gallagher/Long Valley Advocate
“There’s a lot going on, and we’re finding that our students are very, very good, and they stimulate our faculty as well,” said Drown. “We want to be sure students get the professional skills they need and that their projects are realistic. It’s a challenge.”
Drown’s salary now is half funded by UI Extension. CALS Dean John Hammel is optimistic about this partnership. He wants two things: Engage with UI Extension to reach into the communities, then bring back to campus lessons learned and possibilities for next engagements. Hammel sees the Cascade project as a “very good investment in our students and our state. I think this is going to be very successful.”
Contact Barbara Bromley-Brody at bbrody@uidaho.edu and Stephen Drown at srdrown@uidaho.edu.
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