C. Michael Ingersoll, RLA, ASLA, and
managing principal of The LA
group, was
selected by an independent jury to receive
the American Society of Landscape
Architecture (ASLA), New York Upstate
Chapter, Distinguished Practitioner Award
for Private Practice.
The jury noted that they were impressed
with Ingersoll’s work and leadership within
the profession, as well as his many contributions
to the community.
Ingersoll was honored for his hard work over the years for the chapter, the profession and the community by accepting the award at the ASLA awards dinner on Jan. 25 at the Genesee Grand Hotel in Syracuse. Ingersoll has been a member of ASLA for over 25 years. He has attended many functions and conferences throughout the NYU chapter and helped to organize the 2009 chapter meeting in Saratoga Springs. At that meeting, Ingersoll presented the Luther Forest Technology Campus project,now the largest private investment site for nanotechnology in North America.
Ingersoll resides in Saratoga Springs with his family and has been involved in the planning and design of numerous projects in Saratoga County for many years, totaling over 300 projects.
Projects include the Lofts of Saratoga, Hampton Inn, Saratoga Lake Golf Course, the Wilton Developmental Center, the town of Malta Open Space and Recreation Master Plan, The Mill restoration, the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Empire State College, Yaddo restoration, Excelsior Park, and the Carousel in Congress Park. Ingersoll recently completed the newlyopened 454-space parking garage project in Saratoga Springs. Currently in the works is a mixed-use, four-story retail-residential building in the heart of downtown Saratoga Springs.
Ingersoll led the design team for site planning and landscape architecture for the 2012 award-winning, mixed-use Market Center at Railroad Place (Price Chopper) project, receiving a Planning Excellence Award for Sustaining Places by the New York Upstate Chapter of the American Planning Association. Also in 2012, the APA named Saratoga Springs’ Broadway as one of the 10 Great Streets in America, a project area where Ingersoll has contributed significant design input for over 30 years.
The LA Group said Ingersoll’s leadership at the firm, within the community, and the profession have been evident through the many successful commissions, community involvement, and his reputation as a creative designer and problem solver for land planning issues. He has collaborated with many of the leading architects and planners in the region and his work has been frequently recognized by the AIA and APA.
Since joining the firm in 1982, the firm has grown from four employees to over 40 and is a leader within the profession in both size and by reputation within the region. Also under Ingersoll’s direction, the firm committed to a sustainable scholarship fund at the landscape architecture school at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
Ingersoll and fellow partners are frequent lecturers to students at the college giving insight into landscape architecture beyond the degree and representing the profession as leaders.
As an involved citizen, Ingersoll has donated his expertise to many community efforts such as the Center for the Family,Saratoga Miss Softball, Saratoga Economic Development Council, St. Clements Church, the Special Assessment District, the Saratoga Rowing Club, Chamber of Commerce, Saratoga Hospital, Wesley, YMCA, Yaddo, and the city of Saratoga Springs.
In addition, Mike spearheaded the firm’s involvement in “The 1% Program.” The LA Group was one of the first firms in upstate New York to join the program launched by Public Architecture in 2005. The LA Group has provided pro bono site planning and landscape design to local not-for-profit groups since 1983.. Recent projects providing site planning and landscape architecture include High Rock Park 9/11 Memorial in Saratoga Springs, the historic Wiawaka Holiday House in Lake George, and the Wesley Health Care Center Community Garden in Saratoga Springs.
The LA Group, Landscape Architecture and Engineering PC is a design firm that provides environmental analysis, land planning, and civil engineering for public space planning, colleges and institutions, government projects, parks and recreational facilities, and private initiatives.
Local projects include Skidmore College Improvements and the Saratoga Medical Park at Malta.