Huntertown was once a thriving, close-knit African-American community where descendants of freed African-Americans lived in Woodford County, Kentucky. While many residents left the area for various reasons over the years, more than a century after its establishment, in 2001 the county received federal funding to purchase the 38-acre site to mitigate environmental issues and relocate the remaining residents. The Huntertown Community Interpretive Park (HCIP) Committee and the local government envision the preservation of Huntertown’s history and story by establishing an interpretive passive green space on the site as the Huntertown Community Interpretive Park (HCIP). Since 2010, the community/county has worked on a number of heritage research projects. The HCIP has much potential to provide a unique glimpse into the socio-cultural heritage of Woodford County as well as to engage a new generation of citizens in learning about the shared history of the landscape.

During Phase 1 of the project (2020-2021), the University of Kentucky, Department of Landscape Architecture (UKLA) collaboratively developed plans and detailed designs that supported the vision for the HCIP. UKLA supported the HCIP Committee’s effort to vision a passive green space that enhances the site’s environmental quality while creatively layering the site’s important historical narrative through physical expressions. UKLA partnered with the committee and interested community members for further community engagement to decipher what voices to reflect in the interpretive educational landscape that will enhance the community’s environment and its quality of life. Ultimately, the Huntertown Community Interpretive Park Phase 1 master plan was adopted in July 2021. 

Fortunately, a collaborative UK and HCIP committee effort was awarded a 2021-2022 UK Sustainable Challenge Grant titled “Re-Visioning Huntertown: From African American Freetown to Interpretive Public Place” for $42,000 in July 2021. The team includes faculty from the Department of Landscape Architecture (College of Agriculture, Food and Environment), Department of Historic Preservation (College of Design), and School of Visual Arts (College of Fine Arts), community volunteers from the HCIP committee, and Extension agents from the Woodford County Cooperative Extension Office.

In Fall 2021, undergraduate students in two UKLA courses researched, analyzed, planned, designed, and presented a second round of interpretive public open space design proposals focused on the cultural landscape of Huntertown. In LA 324, students used research and community voices to support and complement the community’s vision for interpreting and reflecting Huntertown’s narrative in the public landscape. Three student teams developed and presented their proposals to community members and professionals. The students engaged with community stakeholders during the information gathering process, preliminary presentations on-site, and during a final presentation. In LA 372, students under the instruction of associate professor Ryan Hargrove worked on designing interpretive wayfinding signs. During the final presentations for both classes, there was a sense of excitement from the HCIP Committee, city and county leaders, volunteers, and residents seeing the Huntertown Community Interpretive Park become a part of their culture, heritage, and future. During the year, associate professor Dan Vivian led historic preservation research along with Sioux Finney, HCIP committee chair. Associate professor Chris Sass is leading the bioswale construction to alleviate local flooding in the park. During Spring 2022, assistant professor Chad Eby led students in A-S 345 on a web design service-learning effort related to the project. HCIP committee member Lori Garkovich, Extension agents Faye Kuosman and Adam Probst have been supportive of project needs through their experiences in the community.

In terms of publicity, the project has gained much attention after a CAFÉ article was published and picked up by UKNow. The project was featured on television by WLEX 18 News and the Lexington Herald Leader newspaper. The HCIP Committee is hopeful that such attention will help with the committee’s fundraising efforts toward implementing the pubic space design project. For the short and intermediate terms, the UKLA design proposals and SCG team efforts are providing a foundation to support the placemaking efforts not only for Versailles-Woodford County residents but also for the broader central KY region.