Cathie Barner, AIA
President, Red Bridge Group
My parents were both artists and I grew up in a community of inventors, musicians, writers and educators. I had no way of knowing at the time that this portal to a world of creative opportunity would deeply influence my personal and career choices. The adults around me invited us kids into their lively debates about the arts, innovation and politics. In this multigenerational space I learned to value plurality in ideas, and I experienced the power of many minds coming together. Approaching adulthood, my love of art and desire to create order led me to the field of architecture. I discovered that this profession aligned with many of my natural inclinations and learned how to integrate big ideas and practical constraints into stable but exciting solutions.
After receiving my B.A. in architecture, I began my career in Boston as a junior planner at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. It was an interdisciplinary office model that influenced my project approach ever since. That experience led to work with various local and state government agencies, including City of Lowell, the Governor’s Office of State Planning, and the Massachusetts Dept. of Environmental Management. In these early days, I became experienced with the complications of bringing projects to completion amidst the restrictions of a governmental setting and I began to develop strategies to be successful within this framework.
In 1987 I joined Trust for Public Land as a project manager, working in Boston and New York City. My primary project was at Weir Farm in Connecticut, where I led the site’s planning efforts and worked to achieve its National Park designation. I managed government relations, land acquisition, and the formation of a non-profit partner agency called Weir Farm Heritage Trust. In my three years at TPL I began to witness the ability of public/private partnerships to transform city, state and national park landscapes for the enjoyment of all.
Inspired by the complex needs of public lands projects and ready with a network of experts, I launched Heritage Partners, Inc. I assembled a group of more than 50 individuals and firms, each on call to fulfill critical planning, design and implementation needs for National Park Service projects in the Northeast Region. We managed the execution of two sequential federal Indefinite Quantities Contracts with total billing of more than $22 million over a ten year period. This effort included General Management Plans, partnership development, and visitor service planning at sites such as Statue of Liberty, Governors Island, Marsh- Billings-Rockefeller, Flight 93 Memorial, and Cape Cod National Seashore. We also directed the production of congressionally requested studies that led to National Park designation at Boston Harbor Islands, New Bedford, and Lower East Side Tenement Museum. The Heritage Partners model proved highly successful in moving projects from conception through implementation to completion. This model lives on today in Red Bridge Group.
A year of major accomplishments Take a look at the Golden Gate Bridge Anniversary, an array of new trails and a spectacular visitor center at Lands End.
In 1996 I moved to San Francisco to accept the position of Vice President, Park Projects & Stewardship at the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. As a partner to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the Parks Conservancy was the foremost pioneer of public-private partnership in national parks. I spent the next 22 years collaborating with agencies, nonprofit groups, outstanding consultants and the public to enhance historic buildings, build new park facilities, and restore parklands. Heading a 60-member Parks Conservancy project team of architects, landscape architects, planners, biologists and site restoration specialists, I directed widely acclaimed projects at sites such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Lands End, Alcatraz, Crissy Field, Fort Baker, and Muir Beach. My talented staff and I managed stewardship programs, native plant nurseries, public engagement initiatives such as Art in the Parks, and the park-wide Trails Forever initiative. Behind the scenes, I set park project vision and budgets (in excess of $300 million over 20 years) in direct consultation with the Parks Conservancy Board of Trustees and our many agency partners.
After leaving the Parks Conservancy and taking a break I knew it was time to return to the Heritage Partners model, re-envisioned in the form of an updated, westcoast- based entity, Red Bridge Group. Red Bridge transforms public spaces to new levels of excellence using collaborative processes and strategies. An affiliation of individuals, firms and nonprofit organizations that form teams based on project needs, Red Bridge Group has hit the ground running—consulting on projects at Aquatic Park in San Francisco, Coyote Valley in San Jose, Yosemite Village at Yosemite National Park and in Boston with National Parks of Boston and their partner, Boston Harbor Now.
When not working, my favorite things to do include hiking the hills in and around San Francisco and swimming in the bay. I especially enjoy spending time with great friends and in the good company of Bob Barner, my author-illustrator husband.