Building Swenson Park

Swenson Park was a collaborative work between Utah State University, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Swenson family. The park has been built at the site of award-winning poet May Swenson’s childhood home at 669 East 500 North in Logan. Swenson Park pays homage to the place where May lived with her parents and siblings and where she took her initial steps to become a poet.

In 1922, when May Swenson was just nine, the family moved into their classic bungalow that her father, Dan, had built from a kit he had ordered from a catalog. An expert woodworker, Dan taught at then Utah Agricultural College (now USU), where his eldest daughter, May, herself would graduate with a degree in English in 1934.

The park features plantings typical of the era that May Swenson lived there and gives nod to her parents' gardens and orchards, the hearth around which the family gathered, and the welcome of the home's threshold.

Designed as a place for public readings and events as well as casual gatherings and a gateway to the USU campus, Swenson Park is meant as a place of inspiration to a new generation of writers, thinkers, and artists.

Front of Swenson Park - Features

• Front porch speaking area for public events, like readings and presentations.
• Curbing outlining the original Swenson House footprint. This area accommodates seating for events.
• A "fireplace" installation reminiscent of the original home that honors donors to the project.
• Green screen against neighboring apartments.
• The formal aspects of this area represent things as they appear, May's public self and the Swenson family's place in the community.

Middle of Swenson Park - Features

• Poet's labyrinth that is stone set in gravel.
• Another area for chairs with full view of the "porch" platform.
• Additional benches that will recognize major donors to the project.
• Informational plaques throughout the area
  • Poetry plaques designed to change out seasonally. Plaques are designed to highlight the work of May Swenson as well as featuring student poetry.
• This area represents things as they are, a transition between the formal public image to the natural beginnings. The ability to contemplate and meditate over how we are seen publicly and who we are privately is set to inspire new writers and thinkers in their visits to Swenson Park.
  

Back of Swenson Park - Features

• Preservation of the American Elm tree on the lot, one of the oldest specimens in Logan.
• Lighted and improved pathway that will follow the natural path created by students using it as a shortcut to campus.
• Ornamental flowering fruit trees, to honor Dan Swenson's talent as a tree grafter and his furniture craftsmanship.
• The natural elements represent becoming, or May's childhood and connection with the simple beauty around her. The seeds planted in her childhood from the "wilder space of things" are present throughout her lifetime of work and achievement.