Lincoln Park covering 68 acres in downtown Albany, New York, Lincoln Park is a significant historic landscape. First master-planned by landscape architect Charles Downing Lay in 1914, Lincoln Park has served for a century as the primary outdoor recreation resource for the City of Albany.
Built on a comprehensive public engagement process, this Master Plan weaves together the ecology of the site with the social and cultural life of the surrounding neighborhoods. New nature playgrounds provide important opportunities for children of all ages to engage with the outdoors. Stone structures and furnishings evoke native bedrock ledges in the ravine at the park’s northwest edge, while a swath of stormwater gardens recalls the historic trace of Beaver Creek. Plantings of native trees and meadow species enhance ecological vitality and seasonal beauty, and a curving allee of magnolias honors the planting scheme from Lay’s 1914 master plan. Interpretive historic signage links the many chapters of the park’s history to its importance in contemporary Albany.
Lincoln Park is already a vibrant hub of active recreation, hosting a busy schedule of sports, fitness, and play programs. The Master Plan expands the park’s capacity for year-round active recreation, while enhancing its cultural vibrancy and foregrounding the site’s natural history to craft a unique design language and celebration of place.
The plan has been completed, engineering and construction will be overseen by the City of Albany Department of Engineering.