Bushnell Park is “a place of life and motion that will make us more completely conscious of being one people.”

Bushnell Park is “a place of life and motion that will make us more completely conscious of being one people.”

The Connecticut Olmsted Award

The Connecticut Olmsted Award is given annually by CTASLA to a person or organization who works or resides in Connecticut and has employed the principle of stewardship of the land as the guiding force in their actions. Our 2018 award was presented to the Bushnell Park Foundation, which promotes Reverend Horace Bushnell’s founding vision of the Hartford park as “a place of life and motion that will make us more completely conscious of being one people.” The Foundation’s mission is to promote, preserve, and protect the beauty, safety, and value of Bushnell Park, now nearly 160 years old. The non-profit organization routinely funds improvements to the park, advocates for its maintenance, and programs events. The Foundation works collaboratively with the City of Hartford to enhance the vitality and sustainability of the park.

Capital projects completed by the Foundation include restoration of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, Horace Wells Monument, and the Corning Fountain, and construction of the Performance Pavilion. Current initiatives include:

  • Working with I-Quilt Inc. to expand the park

  • Renovation of the iconic play area

  • Working with the City of Hartford to renovate walkways and lighting

The Bushnell Park Foundation has provided exemplary stewardship of Hartford’s “Central Park” for over three decades. Today Bushnell Park continues to be a green oasis of diversity within Hartford’s central Business District.

Learn more:   http://www.bushnellpark.org/

Past recipients of the Connecticut Olmsted Award include:

2019     U.S. Senator Chris Murphy

2018     Bushnell Park Foundation

2017     No award

2016     UConn CLEAR Program

2015     Chris Donnelly, Urban Forestry Coordinator, State of Connecticut

2014     Terry Backer, State Representative and Soundkeeper

2013     William DeMaio, Director of Parks and Recreation, City of New Britian

2011      Mary Donohue, CT Dept. of Economic and Community Development

2010     Steve Broderick, Goodwin Forest Conservation Education Center

2009    James Gustave Speth, Dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies

2008     Peter L. Malkin, Merritt Parkway Conservancy 

2007     State Senator Andrew Roraback

2006     David Leff, Connecticut DEP/Author

2005     State Senator Bill Finch

2004     Green Valley Institute

2003     Town of Simsbury, CT

2002     Lieutenant Governor M. Jodi Rell and Senate President Pro Tempore Kevin B. Sullivan

2001      No award

2000     Jim Gibbons, Land Use Educator, University of Connecticut

1999      Jack Shannahan and the Connecticut Historical Commission

1998      Joshua's Tract Conservation and Historic Trust

1997      U.S. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman

1996      Land Preservation and Enhancement Program, Iroquois Gas Pipeline Company

1995      William Niering, Ph.D., Connecticut College

1994      Joseph Hickey, Connecticut DEP, State Parks

1993      Philip Barske, Ph.D., Applied Ecologist

1992      Richard Goodwin, Ph.D., Connecticut College