Lakewold Gardens' Website

Organization Name:
Lakewold Gardens
City & State:
Describe your creative piece – what is it and what has it been used for, and why is it innovative?
Originally established as a 5-acre home over 100 years ago, the existence of Lakewold Gardens was made possible by a generous donation from the former residents. Lakewold consists of 10-acres of rare and native plants, unusual statuary, and distinct landscape architecture. When opened in 1989 as a nonprofit public garden, it was embraced by local residents. Later recognized as a Washington State historic landmark, the Gardens have evolved into a sought after tourist destination and community resource. The site’s design draws the visitor into the Gardens’ multi-seasonal environment with two main goals: to entice local and world-wide visitation and provide timely information on the variety of activities. With innovative changes such as adding a video clip, more vibrant photos, historic narrative, and purchase features, the site now educates and engages our visitors. These features express the inspirational value of the Gardens to the public for the first time in Lakewold’s history.
What issue or problem were you working to address with this piece?
In January 2010, Adobe Dreamweaver and Photoshop CS4 software were added to Lakewold Gardens’ computer system to create more attractive and user-friendly web pages. The previous software program was limited and could not support the information we needed. It was hard to navigate and keep information current. Leaps ahead of our previous software program, Adobe Dreamweaver and Photoshop CS4 software has allowed us to make www.lakewoldgardens.org a site that is vibrant, active, and attractive.
How has your submission successfully impacted your organization’s ability to solve this issue/problem?
Lakewold’s mission to preserve the Gardens as an inspirational experience offering continued growth and learning for the public in a unique, historic estate setting is aided by our dynamic website. Since its creation a few months ago, positive impact of the site has been overwhelming. Our older patrons have enjoyed the simplicity of navigating to find the information they need. Our younger generation site visitors enjoy the technological advancements made over our previous site. The public is well-informed of all activities taking place at the Gardens. Those using the internet extensively can conduct business with Lakewold in an efficient manner. As a result of the positive impact of our website to the public, Lakewold’s admissions have increased in a tumultuous economy, responses to our programs have engaged new visitors, and our site has become much more than a webpage that is occasionally updated – it is now a resource.
Creative Submission - URL
http://lakewoldgardens.org