When local entrepreneur Joe Albertson gifted land to the city of Boise in 1979, his intent was for the city to create a park for people and wildlife. After nine years passed with no progress, Albertson built the park he and his wife Kathryn dreamed of themselves, opening it on his 84th birthday in 1989. Since then, the park hadn’t seen any major improvements. It began to show wear and tear, with a surplus of geese in many areas of the park. In 2019, the city’s parks and recreation department embarked on a $4.7-million restoration project supported by a $2.5-million donation by the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation. The design-build effort updated the 41-acre park and restored natural wetlands and wildlife habitats while adding modern amenities.
The design for the modernization needed to incorporate the natural and rustic materials that were part of the original park to maintain the original aesthetic Joe Albertson envisioned. The project team worked with the city, the foundation and others to identify project needs and address design elements that potentially might conflict with the natural look of the park. The emphasis on maintaining natural settings limited signage to key areas only and replaced the original scattered wayfinding with one large map at the entrance. This provided more uninterrupted views of the park’s natural beauty and reduced costs and signage installation time.