Landscape Architecture Students Design, Build Observation Deck

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Springtime visitors to Bryce-Davis park can view the native lotus plants that carpet the wetlands and may catch a glimpse of a green heron thanks to the new Wetland Observation Deck designed and built by eleven University of Arkansas landscape architecture students. Developed in cooperation with the City of Fayetteville Parks and Recreation department, the deck will be dedicated by the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, the students, and Assistant Professor Mark Boyer Wednesday, October 15 at 5:30 p.m.

According to Boyer, who oversaw the project, the design/build process gave the students a hands-on understanding of landscape structures and an up-close exposure to wetlands ecology. The project also schooled them in the value of community service, one of the emphases at the UA School of Architecture.

"Part of what they have to do as professionals is give back to their communities, and this a great way for them to learn about it," Boyer said.

Students roughed out their first sketches for the project last spring, and spent last spring and summer building the 450-square-foot deck. Equipped with built-in benches and an overhead shade structure, the fully accessible deck offers expansive views of the park’s wetlands area, which was previously inaccessible to visitors due to overgrown vegetation. The project also involved the University of Arkansas Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences Club, which worked to reestablish native plants in the wetland pond area.

This is the fifth design/build service project that landscape architecture students have completed under the direction of Professor Mark Boyer. The Parks and Recreation Advisory Board funded the deck with $8500 from the Northwest Park District Park Land Dedication Fund.

Bryce-Davis Park is located in northwest Fayetteville in the Walnut Grove subdivision. To get there, drive west on Wedington Drive to Shiloh, turn north on Shiloh, and take the third left. The street turns 90 degrees to the right and the park will be on the left after the turn. The deck is near the back of the park, across a small stream.