National Recreation and Park Association’s monthly magazine looks at how the City of Wichita (Kansas) Park and Recreation worked with RDG to bring a habitat and preserve back to life.

In 1921, the Pracht family purchased a 300-acre site of shallow ponds in Wichita, Kansas colloquially known as “Cadillac Lake.” In the years following, the city spread from the urban core into suburbs and in 2014, a developer purchased the land from the Pracht family for major commercial expansion, including retail, restaurants and a hotel. 41 of those acres were donated by the developer for the purpose of creating a public park to honor the family that owned the land for nearly 100 years.

Years of using the site for stormwater management to protect nearby developments compromised the quality of the habitat, but also preserved the site for what would become a rare, one-of-a-kind urban wetland environment: the RDG-designed Pracht Wetlands Park.

Click to read Parks & Recreation’s full feature on how RDG partnered with the City of Wichita to restore the beauty of Pracht Wetlands Park.