The UFG Pocket Park offers a soft touch of landscape in a blunt urbanized downtown area; located adjacent to the site of the 106-year-old “American Building” that UFG Insurance Company renovated and moved into in 2019, the Pocket Park has uplifted one of downtown Cedar Rapids’ most high–profile intersections.

Designed by increasingly acclaimed Midwest landscape architecture firm Confluence, the design introduced a lush landscape environment to this previously dreary downtown area. The site was limited in its size and didn’t afford much opportunity to capture stormwater due to the adjacent grading. As such, the RootSpace ArborSystem was incorporated in order to promote and foster urban tree health.

“Our goal for the project was to promote urban reforestation in downtown and talk about the technologies employed to ensure healthy plants and long-term sustainability.”

Patrick Alvord, Landscape Architect – Confluence

Preliminary discussions with the City of Cedar Rapids about the RootSpace ArborSystem led to unanimous agreement on the benefits provided and the ideal location provided by the downtown pocket park on 2nd Street.

After preliminary discussions to introduce the benefits of the system, the City of Cedar Rapids was fully onboard with the use of RootSpace ArborSystem

The Pocket Park screens the entrance to a small UFG parking lot on the site, and is a fantastic blending of the old and new.  As the tress become established, they will add to the urban canopy in Cedar Rapids, providing much-needed shade and temperature alleviation during the hot summer months.