A sign on U.S. 41 in Newton County guides curious travelers to a “Bison Viewing Area,” the most well-known spot in the Efroymson Prairie at Kankakee Sands. In a county characterized by small towns and farm fields, the preserve’s 8,400 acres provide a haven for American bison as well as hundreds of species of smaller mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, insects and native plants.
Last fall, the Nature Conservancy (TNC), which manages the property, unveiled updates to three access points at the nature preserve: the welcome area, the bison viewing area and the native plant nursery. New features included pavilions, viewing decks, restrooms and signage. The new features emerged from a multi-year partnership between TNC, the National Park Service – Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program (NPS-RTCA) and the Purdue University Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture (HLA).
Assembling the team
Bison were reintroduced to Kankakee Sands in 2016. When the charismatic grazers attracted new waves of people to see them, TNC sought to add and improve amenities to make the preserve even more welcoming and accessible to visitors. Without a landscape architect on staff, TNC reached out to NPS-RTCA for technical assistance.
NPS-RTCA then got in touch with Aaron Thompson, associate professor in HLA and director of the Center for Community and Environmental Design. Thompson explains that HLA has worked closely with NPS-RTCA on projects for over six years, so he wasn’t surprised to get the call.
Thompson offered his senior capstone students the opportunity to assist with the site design, and three joined the project.
“This was the perfect example of how we build relationships with partners as a land-grant university and get our students out on amazing projects they wouldn’t have access to otherwise,” Thompson said. “This type of service learning is essential to developing the skills that our graduates need.”
Applying knowledge beyond the classroom
All the project pieces began to fall into place at a design meeting with TNC.“The students were excellent listeners, sketchers and artisans throughout the process, helping us to illustrate the ideas being brought to life during the conversations with our partners,” said Melissa Moran, TNC’s director of community programs.
The students completed designs for six areas: the welcome area, the bison viewing area, the native plant nursery, the bird viewing area and two popular trailheads.
Each design was then refined with the help of HLA alumna Megan Hippely, who was a fellow for NPS-RTCA.
“I was involved early on in the project development during the conceptual design phase where I worked with the three senior HLA students,” Hippely explained. “My role was to mentor students to help develop the initial design concepts. Then, in my role with NPS-RTCA, I was able to further refine the student designs. I developed detailed site plans and renderings that were based on community input and feedback from the Nature Conservancy.”
After months of planning, TNC hired a landscape architect firm to complete the detailed design, and a construction contractor to bring the final designs to life.
By coincidence, the project manager from V3, the company hired to carry out the landscaping work, is also an HLA alumnus who went to school with Thompson.
“We had Purdue people involved at the beginning, middle and even the end of this project, getting it built and pulling it all together,” Thompson said.
Providing a new place for community
Moran is thankful for all the support that made the Kankakee Sands visitor improvements come to life.
“The partnership with Purdue University and the National Park Service was really important,” Moran said. “Ultimately, it generated a concept design report that TNC was able to use to show our partners, our members, our donors what our ideas were and how we could welcome more people to the site. It generated more support and built a lot of enthusiasm and engagement around the project.”
When Hippely visited Kankakee Sands shortly after the improvements were unveiled, she was excited to see the results.
“My favorite feature at Kankakee Sands is the new boardwalk at the Bison Viewing Area,” Hippely said. “When visiting the preserve, I was able to see visitors using the viewing scopes to spot bison all the way on the very far corner of the property. This made me feel like we really helped to improve the visitor experience.”
TNC plans to implement more site improvements in the coming years, some of which will likely be inspired by the other designs from the HLA capstone projects.
