2004 LaGasse Medal (Non-Landscape Architect Category)

Virginia Anderson

The LaGasse Medal recognizes individuals who have made notable contributions to the management and conservancy of natural resources and/or public lands. Nominees in the Non-Landscape Architect Category must possess a minimum of five years in a position directly responsible for managing natural resources or public lands.

Ms. Anderson was appointed Director of Seattle Center in 1988. Located in the midst of bustling Seattle, Washington, this spacious 87-acre park-like campus calls itself the Nation’s Best Gathering Place. A former real estate developer, Ms. Anderson sought to preserve the best of the 1962 World’s Fair site and also to create new facilities, leading more than 100 community meetings over a two-year period. Her resulting master plan for redevelopment of Seattle Center in 1991 was one in which residents felt great pride and ownership. Thanks to Ms. Anderson’s work to develop arts, sports, and recreational facilities, Seattle Center is now home to acclaimed ballet, opera, and theatre companies, three professional sports teams, 23 cultural festivals, three museums, a public high school, an amusement park, a skateboard park, the Space Needle, the monorail, and 23 acres of open space. Over 10 million people enjoy the park annually.

Read the nomination letter by Thomas L. Berger, ASLA, The Berger Partnership (pdf) and endorsements by Hilda Blanco, University of Washington, Robert Hull, FAIA, The Miller/Hull Partnership, Kathryn Gustafson and Shannon Nichol, ASLA, Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, Ltd., Mark Reddington, FAIA, LMN Architects, The Honorable Paul Schell, Former Mayor of Seattle,

Return to 2004 Medals & Landscape Architecture Firm Award page.