"The prairie is not so much a place as it is an experience. Its an ever changing kaleidoscope of brilliantly colored flowers and plumed grasses waning in the wind..." 

Only a small fraction of Illinois's original 22 million-acre prairie remains today. Our Greenway project in East St. Louis not only aims to bring this sense of experience to future generations, but also help in the process of restoring the prairie landscape which originally occupied the state of Illinois.  

We plan to introduce a wide variety of prairie wildflowers (listed below) at various locales in the greenway. This process will help increase biodiversity in the landscape and also aid in creating successful wildlife habitats and wetlands.  

Cost is a necessary point of consideration in a project of this magnitude. We believe that prairie restoration is, all things considered, not a costly affair. We assume that the project costs would be absorbed by the profits acquired from selling of the commercial spaces along the Greenway. We also plan to approach various non-profit conservation agencies for financial and technical support. In the long run, once we successfully establish plant/wildlife habitats on the site, the maintenance costs would remain low. 

The Design Philosophy  

We expect the designed planting to look undesigned, a tribute to the notion of happenstance beauty gaining new ground in the American landscape. We believe our design, is not simply an object of beauty, but also a service to the East Saint Louis EcoScape by stimulating natural habitats that provide refuge for threatened American flora and fauna.  

Flower color is a very common way of grouping plants. But in the case of wildflowers, the color may vary among the same species and hence it would be unnecessary to use this method. We aim to group different plant species together, which increases biodiversity and helps the wildlife to coexist successfully. 

We believe that there should be a close interaction between visitor and wildlife. The aim of the planting design is to create different visual and personal experiences for the user. The design would encourage the visitors to gather in and move through the prairie. An example would be to use the open spaces around buildings, which under normal circumstances have higher user traffic, for selective planting.  

The Process  

First, the existing vegetation must be plowed under. The height of the water table has been considered. After the land is cleared of the existing vegetation, the prairie is planted.  

Extensive weeding is carried out for a few seasons thereafter by people who are 'aware of the differences between native and alien species' (the weeds). The prairie is then established.  

"In the prairie, the fine network of mycorrhizal fungi that flourishes below the soil surface acts as a primitive nervous system, linking the plants and regulating the flow of nutrients. The actual soil of the prairie is paradoxically very poor, because all the nutrients are in circulation in the living biomass--the birds and bees, plants and trees" (Turner, 1988). 

For Education and Fun  

Plants/animals can be used for educational purposes. There are quite a number schools located near the greenway and we would encourage the faculty to bring the students for guided tours of the greenway at discount rates (also encouraged are less formal interactions which allow for particular curiosities to be indulged on the part of the user). We plan to introduce a 'please touch program', which encourages the children to dicover the natural world around them. The natural setting would provide a rich learning environment in many way more effecticve than classroom instruction alone. Kiosks will be built to display names of different plant and animal species. Other signs like "shake hands with the live turtle", "find out how many animals you can find in this pond", "see what the woodchuck eats" etc., would also be put up at appropriate places. The greenway will be a fun place for children where learning and play coexists.