Sodbuster Landscape

fargo, North dakota

Sodbuster’s newly redesigned landscape is the first phase of a larger project, a new Fargo Civic Plaza, which has evolved from the planning efforts of Downtown InFocus. As a consultant,Bishop Land Design provided the vison for the ecology and landscape architecture of the plan. BLD and the City of Fargo are now defining opportunities to implement the vision outlined by Downtown InFocus; tocreate a new Civic Plaza between City Hall, the Main Public Library and the Civic Center. This project benefits from BLD’s interdisciplinary approach that embraces the role of landscape as a resource for municipalities with the potential to provide social, ecological and economic benefits.

Our goal is to celebrate Civic Plaza as an invaluable resource for Fargo by creating a space where the city can come together, which will contribute to a vibrant and engaging downtown environment while fostering connectivity to the river. The plaza design incorporates the diverse interests of stakeholders; including Fargo Parks, the Performing Arts Center Task Force, the Plains Art Museum, the designers and developers of Block 9 Plaza, FM Diversion, and the Army Corps of Engineers, the downtown community, and broader neighborhoods. Our project approach builds on the Downtown InFocus comprehensive plan from January 2018 and expands on the insights gained from the temporary site plan for the civic plaza, Block 9 development plans, and EPA assessments for the Mid America Steel site, among others, and coordinates closely with concurrent design studies for the Performing Arts Center.

BLD's multi-layered approach — to add value to the urban and social fabric while incorporating infrastructural and ecological improvements — is the basis for our holistic vision, one in which Fargo Civic Plaza is a flexible and adaptable public open space. To achieve this, BLD has devised comprehensive contextual planning and site programming strategies that first integrate and then feature stormwater management as an inherent asset of the site and consequently enable development of an innovatively resilient landscape.

Sodbuster Landscape benefitted from an accelerated design process and fast-tracked construction, due to concurrent commitments by the Plains Museum and the city to create a permanent home for the sculpture by fall 2019, the date that its restoration was complete.