Laguna Gloria Site Assessment & Natural Areas Management Guidelines

• Conservation
• Natural Area Management

Siglo created a Site Assessment and Natural Areas Management Guidelines for The Contemporary Austin‘s Laguna Gloria site. The final report included an inventory of natural features, a site assessment, an examination of visitor use patterns, and detailed management recommendations for the site’s natural areas. The 90-plus page document has been used by The Contemporary Austin (formerly Austin Museum of Art) to begin ecological restoration, support their institutional visioning process, and inform candidate design firms about the property.

Siglo group was selected as part of the Beck Group construction team to implement the master plan completed by Reed Hildebrand.  The master plan called for management of the grounds to follow the guidelines Siglo created.  This work has been completed for Phase 1 and will continue to Phase II that includes that natural areas as funding becomes available.  In the meantime the grounds crew at Laguna Gloria are actively implementing the Natural Area Management Guidelines with substantial invasive species efforts including the removal of massive amounts of Arundo, Chinese Tallow, and catclaw vine.  In addition, natural areas have been seeded with native plants to increase the diversity of the wooded groundcover.  This work integrates with the museum’s goal of creating a nationally recognized ecologically healthy sculpture park where art and nature interact.