The Art of Stone Wall Masonry
There’s always more than meets the eye, especially in The Parklands! The architecture throughout our parks intentionally plays homage to the history of our area.
One of my favorite architectural features is the intricate dry-stacked stone walls throughout the park. You’ll find them lining pathways, roads, and trails, and they always seem to be leading you on your way to the next Parklands feature. Although stunning, it’s sometimes easy to pass them by without taking a moment to think about how and why they were built.
KET’s Kentucky Life recently showcased Cecil Aguilar and the Drystone Conservancy, who have been integral in building our walls throughout the park. You won’t want to miss this story on one of our park’s stone masons, and of the history of stone walls in Kentucky. It even features our Parks Director and a sneak peek of Turkey Run Park construction.
Click here to watch the episode, the stone wall story appears in the first segment: http://www.ket.org/cgi-bin/cheetah/watch_video.pl?nola=kkyli+001908&altdir&template
For more on the newly built and historical stone walls in The Parklands, read this story by Parklands historian Bob Hill.
Next time you walk, run or ride by, you might take a closer look at the artistry involved in building these impressive walls.
About the Author
Ellen Doolittle Oost
Ellen has been the Director of Development at 21st Century Parks since April of 2015. In this role she oversees fundraising functions for The Parklands, including the annual fund/membership campaign, corporate sponsorships, supporting the Board of Directors, leading major fundraising events, and seeking grant and foundational support. It’s her goal to create multiple compelling opportunities for donors to support The Parklands, a donor-supported public park that does not receive tax dollar support on an annual basis but has four world-class parks free and open to the public 365 days a year.
Although fairly new to this role, Ellen is intimately familiar with The Parklands as she spent the previous 3 years as the Communications Manager in charge of public relations, social media, community outreach and marketing for the parks. Before joining 21st Century Parks she spent three years with Louisville-based advertising agency Doe-Anderson. Her background also includes marketing and account service roles at Anheuser-Busch InBev, PriceWeber advertising agency, and direct mail marketing at Traffic Builders, Inc. Ellen is a graduate of Marietta College where she studied advertising, public relations and marketing and played volleyball. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, camping, and traveling with her two mutts and her husband Andrew.