Forest Park Forever Co-Hosts National Study Tour of Innovative St. Louis Parks
Participants in the City Parks Alliance’s St. Louis Study Tour gather in Forest Park on the shore of Post-Dispatch Lake, during a reception at The Boathouse, with Government Hill and World's Fair Pavilion in the background.
Forest Park Forever joined the Gateway Arch Park Foundation, Great Rivers Greenway and Tower Grove Park in co-hosting a national conference of urban park and civic leaders that showcased the vibrant progress of St. Louis parks in early June.
The three-day, sold-out event was part of the City Parks Alliance’s Park Study Tour series, which shines a spotlight on innovative park systems that contribute to vibrant, healthy and equitable communities. The St. Louis tour drew participants from across the United States and from Toronto, providing them a chance to experience and learn about St. Louis’s innovative approaches to improving the park system and the quality of life of its residents.
Executive leaders from the City Parks Alliance and the four St. Louis co-hosts with the mayor of St. Louis at The Boathouse in Forest Park, left to right: Susan Trautman, Great Rivers Greenway: Lesley Hoffarth, Forest Park Forever; St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones; Bill Reininger, Tower Grove Park; Catherine Nagel, City Parks Alliance; and Ryan McClure, Gateway Arch Park Foundation
City Parks Alliance’s mission is to engage, educate, and nurture a broad-based constituency to support the creation, revitalization, and sustainability of parks and green spaces that contribute to more vibrant and equitable cities.
That mission made St. Louis, and its diverse co-host organizations, an ideal site for a study tour. The city has been transitioning from the legacy of its manufacturing economy for several decades. New investment in parks and trails—focusing on access, equity, and connectivity—has played a vital role in revitalizing and connecting its downtown and neighborhoods.
As national parks leaders have realized, innovative partnerships between the City of St. Louis, the National Park Service, and privately led foundations and organizations like Forest Park Forever have helped reshape parks programming, operations, maintenance and funding. The four St. Louis co-hosts each bring different partners, governance and funding structures to the study, while their collaboration with each other for the benefit of St. Louis provides an inspiring model for parks leaders from other cities.
Abby and Noah, two students who provided input during the community engagement and design process for the Anne O’C. Albrecht Nature Playscape, share their experiences and perspectives with visitors on the City Parks Alliance St. Louis Study Tour.
The first night of the tour included a kickoff at The Boathouse in Forest Park — with a visit by St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones — on a night when the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival and the Missouri History Museum’s Twilight Thursday concert series were also taking place in the Park.
Visitors’ itinerary also included visits to Tower Grove Park, Gateway Arch National Park and multiple Great Rivers Greenway locations, as well as a tour of the Anne O’C. Albrecht Nature Playscape in Forest Park. Two students who were part of the community engagement and concept development of the Playscape shared their experience and perspective with the group, two years after the 17-acre space opened.
Past City Parks Alliance study tours have been hosted in Chicago, Los Angeles, Denver, Toronto and Cleveland. The organization also hosts the biennial Greater & Greener conference, a leading international gathering for urban park leaders, city planning and design professionals, public officials, advocates, funders and innovators.