The Ann Arbor Chronicle

Developer Pitches Idea for Argo Art Walk

Ann Arbor public art commission meeting (Jan. 4, 2011): Marsha Chamberlin, as the commission’s acting chair, began Tuesday’s meeting by noting that many of the commissioners planned to attend a memorial gathering for Peter Pollack, a landscape architect and community activist who passed away last month. Because of that, she said, they would make the meeting as expeditious as possible – it lasted less than an hour.

One of several cairns on the east side of North Main Street in Ann Arbor, near property owned by Peter Allen. The local developer is proposing a sculpture park in the area, funded through the city's Percent for Art program. (Photo by the writer.)

Part of that time was spent hearing a proposal by local developer Peter Allen, who urged commissioners to consider creating some kind of art walk in the Argo Pond area, possibly installing sculptures and using Percent for Art funds from the recently approved millrace reconstruction project. Two city parks hug Argo Pond – Bandemer on the west and Argo on the east.

Allen cited the Michigan Legacy Art Park at the Crystal Mountain resort as an example of something that could be used as a model, and he offered to explore the possibility of seeking matching private funds for the project. [Full Story]

“It Looks Like a Great Burn Day”

Like many articles in The Chronicle, this one begins at a public meeting. But unlike any others, it ends in a partially burned woods at Argo Nature Area, where a crew clad in yellow fire-retardant suits kicked up puffs of smoke as they strode through the ashes of their work.

Gear for a member of the city's Natural Area Preservation burn crew, on the stoop of the Leslie Science & Nature Center. (Photos by the writer.)

On the path from one to the other, we learned about sling psychrometers, drip torches, council rakes and what kind of leaves burn best. Our guides were the staff and volunteers of Ann Arbor’s Natural Area Preservation program, who will be wrapping up the spring burn season later this month.

We first got an overview of the city’s controlled burn program from NAP’s manager, Dave Borneman, who made a presentation about it at the February meeting of the Ann Arbor park advisory commission. He described the ecological rationale behind a burn, citing the benefits it brings by controlling invasive species and rejuvenating the land.

As it turns out, Borneman was also the “burn boss” when we tagged along on a burn last Friday – the first one done by NAP in Argo’s lowland area.

But the day for the crew began at their offices in the Leslie Science & Nature Center building, on Traver Road – so that’s where we’ll start, too. [Full Story]