by James Coulter
Longleaf pines, scrub bays, and wire grass are some of the many native plants that will be featured prominently in a local park through a plan created by local students.
At their work session meeting on Wed. Feb. 26, 2025, Lake Wales city commissioners were given a presentation by students from Rollins College on a plan for Olmsted Heritage Park.
Located in the Druid Hills subdivision, east of Lake Wales Medical Center, the proposed 4-acre park is named after Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., the famous architect who designed Bok Tower Gardens. In 2022, the City of Lake Wales received a grant to restore the natural landscape.
The park will be designed and planned through Lake Wales Heritage, Inc., an organization which, according to their website, is a “nine-member all-volunteer board of directors who represent a diverse cross-section of our community.”
Bruce Stephenson, a former professor at Rollins College, and several students offered a presentation on a conceptual landscape design plan for the park, which will utilize native plants to help accentuate the natural beauty of the area, as well as reflect Olmsted’s philosophy.
The plan would take the main design elements of a longleaf park ecosystem while allowing it to work aesthetically and functionally as a natural habitat for local wildlife. In the very center of the park will be a kiosk that will serve as a focal point.
Throughout the park, more than 1,000 plants will be planted including trees like turkey oak and scrub bay and grass like wire grass and lovegrass. A main element will be several clusters of trees, or “picturesque groves”, carefully cultivated throughout the park. The area will also incorporate “pastoral strands” to serve as buffers around the perimeter.
Recently, Rollins College has completed a similar project in Winter Park, a 2-acre garden modeled after The Ramble in Manhattan’s Central Park. As that project had the same parameters as Olmstead Heritage Park, it was used as an influence for the Lake Wales park.
Stephenson and his students worked alongside David Price and his staff from Bok Tower Gardens to help create a plan that reflected the area’s natural landscape and flora.
“This was a wonderful project,” Stephenson said. “The students put a lot of time and effort into the project…[and] I think it is illustrative of the opportunity that exists.”
City Commissioner Robin Gibson commended the effort. However, he also hoped the project would not take as long as the project in Winter Park.
“I have driven around [the park area] for 30 years,” he said. “It is a geological wonder that was waiting for something like this. It is amazing.”
