Macon Magazine

FORMAL AND FORMATIVE TRAINING After graduating from Stratford Academy a year early, Treadwell completed her core classes at Mercer University and set her sights on Georgia Tech – like her father and grandfather – but to everyone's dismay, Tech didn't have a landscape architecture program. Ruefully, she transferred to the University of Georgia. Her consolation — UGA had the biggest and most prestigious landscape architecture program in the Southeast. Treadwell says life at UGA was a blast – despite having an entirely different academic schedule than her peers. While friends would attend class, write papers and take tests, she was immersed in a rigorous series of large-scale landscape projects, which routinely lasted well into the night. But Treadwell's world changed when her mother died of cancer during her junior year, obliging her to strike a deal with her younger sister. She would remain at UGA to finish her degree while her sibling ran the household and cared for their younger brother and father. After graduation, Treadwell freed her sister and did the same. Becoming an accredited landscape architect required a two-year apprenticeship with a licensed professional. With none in Macon at the time, UGA permitted her to complete her training with Hamp Dowling, a local landscape contractor and nursery owner. For extra money, she maintained a side hustle in her dad's architectural firm, quipping, "Reinforcing my hatred of detail work." "Landscape architecture became real while working with Hamp," says Treadwell. "In college, I learned design, plants and urban planning in the bubble of a classroom. Hamp's talented crew taught me how to plant and make plants live, and about weeds and watering – elements which make landscape challenging. "Often in the landscape profession, you don't do installations. And unlike interior design where a sofa is beautiful upon arrival, landscape architects must plan for growth and conditions, and teach clients about maintenance. I was lucky to learn those things right out of college, which made me a better, more practical designer." P H OT O B Y J E S S I C A W H I T L E Y COLEMAN HILL Site for major concerts and events, giant slide and panoramic views of Macon DAISY PARK Imaginative, urban neighborhood park where round-the-clock basketball and splash pad co-exist DAMON KING PLAZA AT NAVICENT HEALTH Hardwood trees and fountain sounds bring serenity to outdoor dining HUMMINGBIRD COURTYARD Vacant space housing a charred dumpster transformed into downtown's first outdoor patio COLLEGE STREET ROUNDABOUT Macon-Bibb County's first roundabout, the attractive throwback beautifies the neighborhood, slows traffic and enhances pedestrian safety CHERRY STREET PLAZA AND INTERACTIVE FOUNTAIN Versatile city event space and the cornerstone of downtown revitalization THE Treadwell touch JUNE/JULY 2020 | maconmagazine.com 109

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