1. What was your role in this project?
   Kurt Skinner is the Landscape Architect and Project Coordinator for the River Corridor Improvement Project. Law/Kingdon was hired for this project and the Design Team began working on it in 1999. The Design Team included many consultants including several artists, a theater consultant, a special effects consultant and others. I was personally responsible for the concept of the space around the keeper.

2. Why did you want to work on this project?
   Chris Cherches had a vision with this project – he wanted it to be world-class waterfront for the citizens of Wichita. How often does someone give you the direction to make something that great? It was the opportunity of a lifetime.

3. What is your favorite part of this project?
   Watching people experience the Keeper area.

4. Was there a time when you said "What have I gotten myself into?" If yes, when?
   Never. But there were times when I wondered if the project would actually happen. We started early with a charette process, receiving public input and direction from many different sources. There were concepts that celebrated the culture but we needed to retell the Native American stories more thoroughly. There were so many ideas in the beginning that we weren’t sure how it would all be included. Ultimately we chose to layer symbology in the physical form of the design in conjunction with interpretive graphics and artwork to enhance the depth of the experience.

5. What are you most proud of?
   The design team.

BIO
Kurt Skinner now owns his own landscape architecture firm called Skinner Design Studios. When Skinner received this project, he was the Director of the Landscape Architecture and Planning Department for Law Kingdon, Inc. Law/Kingdon was hired for this project and the Design Team began working on it in 1999. He has designed several projects throughout the nation. In Wichita, he has also designed the Delano Neighborhood Plan, Bishop Carroll High School Expansion, Salvation Army Koch Center, the Davis Hall Master Plan at Friends University (WDM), Koch Chimp and Orangutan Exhibit (Concept Phase) at Sedgwick County Zoo (WDM) and the Old Town Parking Garage.

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