New Post

In 1910, the Army began constructing a New Post at Fort Sill. This large urban development was arrayed around a central open space or parade ground at the base of Medicine Bluffs Ridge. It was part of an effort to repurpose and transform an obsolete frontier outpost into a national “School of Fire” for testing and training troops in ground-based artillery and would go on to play a critical role in the development of new technologies and applications, ultimately giving the US strategic advantages in both the World Wars and the Cold War. Early army aviation was pioneered here and on Fort Sill’s Henry Post Airfield with reconnaissance planes and dirigibles. At the same time, the Fort served as an active reservation for Apache POWs, including Geronimo, who had been interned here since 1893. Originally the New Post parade ground was flanked with structures on only two sides: modest Mission-style soldier’s barracks to the south and gracious Colonial Revival officer’s housing to the north. Both ends of the space were open to the adjacent landscape: the wooded bottomlands of Medicine Creek to the east and open range and the Wichita Mountains to the west. The expansive view westward mimicked the orientation of the Old Post and suggested a posture of westward expansionism and a mood of Manifest Destiny. Our master plan for the New Post parade ground provides a framework for stewarding this cultural landscape while increasing its resiliency. The space spans two distinct ecological zones. The west side of the site is part of the Shortgrass Prairie zone, while the east side is part of the Wooded Bottomlands. This creates a condition where the eastern half of the site is better able to support tree life and other plants that require more water. The design proposal increases shade, biodiversity and carbon sequestration with bands of intensified plantings at the north and south edges along the central open space–which is kept open and flexible to accommodate special events and daily programming for athletics and wellness.

2021 Recipient MD-OK ASLA Merit Awards