Viestenz-Smith Mountain Park
- Award Year: 2021
- Award Category: Design over $500k
- Award Designation: Honor Award
- Client: City of Loveland, Colorado
- Location: 1211 W. Highway 34, Loveland, CO 80537
The project site, adjacent to US34, straddles the Big Thompson River approximately 10 miles west of Loveland. Parking hugs the south bank. Trails with bridges provide a variety of experiences and access to day use facilities.
The September 2013 flood scoured the park and created a new channel. CDOT relocated the channel to the north. This project reconstructed the low flow channel back to the south to respect the power of the river’s hydraulic forces.
The river was reconstructed to define a naturalistic and evolving low-flow channel. The river access platform allows people of all ages and ability to experience the river. Long pedestrian bridges pass the 100-year flood.
These photos were taken at approximately the same location. The photo on the right is 4 months after the flood. The photo on the left shows the restored river and landscape in July 2021, five years after planting.
Accessible trails throughout the park connect its many features. Boulders leading down to the river access platform mark the water levels of historic and potential future floods. Shelters provide shade for group conversations, relaxation, wildlife observation, and picnics.
The accessible platform floods when the river flows are above the two-year event and is designed to withstand high velocities. Rock drops and pools next to the platform were designed to create a variety of fishing and boating opportunities.
Drop structures, buried and surface rock, coir lifts, and riparian shrubs were installed to mitigate erosion, mimic natural features, and improve aquatic, wetland, and riparian habitat. Bank-side and in-stream fishing is very popular for both local and out-of-state visitors.
Visitors enjoy playing in the water and creating small pools at the edge of the low-flow channel with rocks. These rocks will dislodge during higher flows, erasing the human-made evidence.
In addition to connecting the park’s use areas, the trails are an attraction unto themselves. A variety of hard and soft surfaces trails offer opportunities to exercise and relax in nature within a 15-minute drive of the City.
After exposing foundation stones, logs were added to represent the size of Louis Papa’s cabin, an early settler on the site. The sign explains the history and Papa’s connection to other features downstream in Loveland.
The hydroelectric generators, buried turbines, and original building foundation slab were installed in the 1920’s to provide power to the City of Loveland. They survived long after the original structure built to house them was swept away.
Two 1930’s Civilian Conservation Corps buildings are still present. Both stone structures are open to the public and provide a valuable connection to the past. The larger of the two, pictured here, is a rehabilitated picnic shelter.
The 2013 flood destroyed park donation memorials to loved ones that were along a walkway. Rather than recreate separate memorials, the “1-Percent-for-Art” budget was used to fund a new memorial sculpture. It is located at a river overlook.
This floodplain bench downstream of main park area was restored as riparian, wetlands and uplands habitat. It is popular for river play and fishing access. The sculpture that the City installed at an overlook can be seen in the background.
A severe departure from the preflood character of the park, the landscape is now native within the Rocky Mountain Foothills Life Zone. While restoration takes many years, this photo shows that the techniques were successful in a short time frame.
The armored slope on the south bank of the river protects US34 from flood scouring. A low rock wall protects the parking lot and a water quality pond. Large boulders were strategically placed in the river and along its banks.