The new Park at Amethyst on Portland’s Eastern Waterfront was appropriately showcased on the front page of the Local & State section last Saturday (Sept. 19, Page B1). The photo caption, however, inappropriately credited a local landscape contracting company – Seabreeze Property Services – with having “done” the project.

There were, in fact, a host of professionals led by landscape architects who created the park design, which was then constructed by Seabreeze, and the Portland Press Herald did them a disservice by not crediting their efforts. This typifies how projects are described – or not – in the Press Herald and the media in general.

A multitude of players are required to move a project from concept to reality, principal among them being the owner, the lead designer and the prime contractor. Giving appropriate credit to this team informs the public about who the economic movers and shakers are, who is giving form to our public realm and who is making these plans a reality. Every person involved in a project obviously can’t be credited, but identifying these key three gives the public the critical information necessary to follow and/or support the players and, if they’ve done their jobs right, garner support for their future efforts.

In the future, please consistently credit key project players when putting the spotlight on development projects and give credit where credit is due.

Mark G. Johnson
Maine licensed landscape architect
Portland

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