Artist Maya Lin invited Quennell Rothschild & Partners to collaborate on this new park, public plaza, and amphitheater in downtown Grand Rapids. Situated at the historic focal point of the city, the plaza provides a civic gathering place for concerts, a farmers’ market, and community activities. In winter, a refrigeration system transforms the plaza into a unique environment for public ice-skating. The elements within the park – the skating rink, the bubbling water fountain, the mist fountain, and the wave-like earthen mounds – capture water in each of its three states: solid, liquid and vapor. The amphitheater/skating rink at the heart of the park is surrounded by terraced seating arranged in concentric rings, reminiscent of ripples caused by a drop of water on a still pool. Beneath the surface of the amphitheater, 165 fiber-optic lights mark the position of the constellations over Grand Rapids on January 1, 2000, the year in which construction of the park was begun.