Upper Landing Park
Saint Paul Riverfront

Located below downtown Saint Paul on the Mississippi River, Upper Landing Park is one of a series of projects CLOSE Landscape Architecture+ has designed along the waterfront. In addition to the park, CLOSE is currently designing Chestnut Plaza and the river landing, both of which will be installed in 2007. Our office also developed the master plan for Upper Landing Housing, a seven-block neighborhood adjacent to the park.

The park design takes its cues from the river itself: natural riverine qualities – such as eddies, flooding and scouring – are all expressed and interpreted through the design, as are human uses of the river, such as navigation, industrial uses, and historic immigrant communities. Public art was a significant component of the project, with four large bronze birds – "guardians of the river" – created by sculptor Doug Freeman, perched on walls overlooking the river, a national flyway in spring and fall.