12-15 hardy souls joined us in a cold, November rain last Friday for a site visit around the Atwater Commons project, along with several faculty and staff, and even an alum (nice to meet you, Philip!).

First, a mea culpa. I’m hoping I didn’t scare anyone off of the project by expanding the scope unnecessarily. We did a soup to nuts tour, starting all the way down in the Johnson Parking lot, crawling all around the bottom (east) side of Atwater Dining, and somehow ending up in the residence halls parking lot. It’s a big area, and I feel like to get to know a site, you should also know the area around it. How you approach a site, the route you take, or what you see for views, or what views are blocked, or where the water goes: all of that is important information in drawing a landscape plan for the area.

But you don’t have to worry about it. I mentioned, for example, the pathway leading to the Commons house, 275 Weybridge. Yes, it could stand some improvement, but not a biggie. Focus your project on the commons area, between Hall A + B, and the front of the dining hall if you like. Like all things in this project, it is up to you–should you want to expand the scope and include some of the outlying deficiencies we discovered on the tour, feel free.

Last week, before the site visit, I took a scattering of pictures of the site. I’ve since posted them on the web for your viewing pleasure. They are geotagged as well, so a map next to the picture will show where I was standing when I took the picture.

Atwater Landscape Contest Pics