Landscaper honored for public statement

A Pawcatuck landscape-design firm has won a statewide award for a $280,000 project to revitalize Depot Square Park in Hope Valley, R.I.

Landscape Elements took home a merit award in the public-spaces category in a contest sponsored by the Connecticut chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

"This was a community participation project from the initial design meeting through to the park dedication," said Elena M. Pascarella, the company's sole principal, in a description of the project.

The Connecticut Design Awards honored 19 different projects, including the new Eastern Connecticut State University science building in Willimantic as well as a project by Anne Penniman Associates of Essex, but Landscape Elements was the only company from New London County to win an award.

Landscape Elements' project, abutting the Hope Valley-Wyoming Fire District firehouse, is part of a village revitalization effort in the town of Hopkinton. Pascarella worked closely with sculptor Ana Flores of Charlestown, R.I., to provide a space both functional and attractive for a community looking to highlight its history.

"People feel like they've had a part in this project," Pascarella said in a phone interview.

The project includes undulating fieldstone "history walls" in which selected quotes about Hope Valley's significant moments are engraved. Among the historical figures whose words are included is Prudence Crandall, a Hopkinton native who founded the first U.S. school for African-American women in Canterbury.

The site had been the location of farms dating back to the 18th century, and a nearby intersection was once the location of a train depot, Pascarella said. To create the park, Pascarella had to oversee the demolition of a former plumbing supply store and level the surrounding area, making sure to leave enough room so firetrucks could turn around.

"The park design focuses on creating curved spaces in a rectangular context to draw people into the site," according to a project description. "The entrances, flagpole and central fountain feature are set around engraved circles of granite that reflect the wheels of the Hope Valley railroad line which connected this area to other parts of New England."

The Depot Square Project was cited as an excellent example of creating spaces through community involvement and for its use of sustainable design principles, including the use of local quarries, suppliers and professionals.

Pascarella, who previously worked for Diversified Technology Consultants in New London, has recently been involved with New London Main Street in designing crosswalks and landscaping for a downtown project scheduled for completion in May. Her 5-year-old company does design work in Connecticut and Rhode Island.