In February 2003 the City of St. Louis embarked on a planning project for the revitalization of Lafayette Park. That project culminated in the establishment of the Lafayette Park Master Plan.
The planning process brought Lafayette Square and other city residents together with City of St. Louis officials and other professional urban planning experts. A series of five public workshops involved the Park’s diverse stakeholders in identifying a vision, setting goals, and establishing principled implementation guidelines. More than 700 people were involved in the planning process.
The vision of the completed Lafayette Park Master Plan is to restore the character and charm of this Victorian-era strolling park, while updating the infrastructure and facilities to accommodate the needs of contemporary visitors. After documenting the state of the Park in the early 2000s, the Master Plan identifies and prioritizes historic park elements to be restored and infrastructure improvements to be completed.
Lafayette Square residents voted in early 2005 to accept the Lafayette Park Master Plan by an overwhelming margin. Following the neighborhood’s endorsement the City Planning Commission officially adopted the Plan as an integral part of the comprehensive Lafayette Square Neighborhood Urban Plan.
The Park Master Plan additionally specified that a new body comprising members from City of St. Louis government, the Lafayette Park Conservancy, architectural and planning professionals, and the community at large would review all proposals for privately or publicly funded park projects to ensure their conformity with the Master Plan. That body, the Lafayette Park Implementation Advisory Board (LPIAB), began meeting quarterly in March 2005.