If you’ve enjoyed a walk through Lilydale Regional Park, spent time at a Saint Paul recreation center, or simply found yourself in a park that felt welcoming and thoughtfully designed, there’s a good chance Alice Messer had something to do with it.
As Manager of Design and Construction for Saint Paul Parks and Recreation, Alice leads a team responsible for imagining, planning, and building the spaces that millions of residents and visitors enjoy every year. It’s a role she’s held in various forms for the last 20 years, though she admits no two days ever look quite the same.
“One morning I might be out on construction sites,” she says. “That same afternoon I could be talking about budgets, onboarding a new team member, or working with community partners. Every day is different.”
That variety is one of the things she loves most about the job.
From Budapest to Saint Paul Parks
Alice’s path to park design wasn’t exactly straightforward.
Growing up, her parents worked as international school teachers, which meant home was constantly changing. One day she was living in Iowa. The next, her parents announced the family was moving to Singapore.
“As a middle schooler, my sister and I were not thrilled,” Alice laughs.
The family later moved to Budapest, Hungary, where she graduated from high school before returning to the United States for college.
It was there that a brochure from Iowa State University introduced her to landscape architecture.
“I didn’t really know much about it,” she says. “But it seemed like the perfect combination of art and science.”
Twenty years later, that brochure looks like a pretty good decision.
Designing Parks People Actually Use
Before joining the City of Saint Paul, Alice worked for private engineering firms designing commercial developments.
“It was great experience,” she says. “But designing corporate parking lots wasn’t particularly fulfilling.”
What drew her to Saint Paul Parks and Recreation was the opportunity to create spaces that mattered.
“The parks we work on are places my family uses, my friends use, and our community uses. That’s incredibly rewarding.”
It’s also what keeps her motivated after two decades.
A Special Place: Lilydale Regional Park.
Asking someone who works with parks to choose a favorite is a little like asking a parent to pick a favorite child
“You love them all differently,” Alice says with a smile.
But if she has to choose, Lilydale Regional Park wins.
The park was one of her first major projects with the city, and she has been involved with it from long-range planning through implementation.
“It took about ten years to bring that vision to life,” she says. “You’re so close to downtown, but when you’re there, it doesn’t feel like you’re in the city at all.”
The project came with plenty of challenges, from environmental concerns to floodplain issues, but seeing it all come together made the effort worthwhile.
“When you finally stand there and see it working, it feels amazing.”
Listening First
When people think about park design, they often imagine drawings, construction plans, and ribbon cuttings.
Alice thinks about listening.
A lot.
One of the biggest challenges her team faces is designing spaces for communities with very different needs, interests, and experiences.
“We always start with community engagement,” she says. “And it’s never exactly the same from project to project.”
“We always start with community engagement,” she says. “And it’s never exactly the same from project to project.”
Sometimes that means rethinking traditional public meetings and finding new ways to hear from people whose voices might otherwise be missing.
One recent example was the planning work for Harriet Island Regional Park. When participation wasn’t reflecting the diversity of the community, the team adapted its approach, creating intentional spaces where specific communities could share their thoughts and experiences in a more comfortable setting.
“One of the questions we ask ourselves is, ‘Who aren’t we hearing from?'”
It’s a simple question, but one that has shaped many of Saint Paul’s recent park projects.
After all, as Alice points out:
“These parks aren’t for us. They’re for the people who use them.”
Looking Toward the River
Ask Alice what excites her most right now and she’ll start talking about the Mississippi River.
Saint Paul’s riverfront presents incredible opportunities, but also some significant challenges. Changing flood patterns, accessibility barriers, and evolving community needs all require new approaches.
“There are people who live very close to the river who have never actually been down to it,” she says.”
Projects like the River Learning Center at Bdote are helping reimagine that relationship and make these spaces more accessible for future generations.
Looking ahead, Alice is especially excited about the future River Learning Center at Bdote and plans to rebuild the Duluth and Case Recreation Center.
It’s a space with tremendous potential,” she says.
Like every project she works on, the goal is simple: create places where people feel connected, welcome, and eager to return.
Beyond the Blueprints
Alice spends her days thinking about community spaces, construction projects, river access, and long-range planning, but there’s a lot more to her than park design.
PARK BENCH PERSPECTIVES
To wrap up our conversation, we put Alice through the Park Bench Perspectives Quickfire Round to learn a little more about the person behind the projects.
Quickfire with Alice
Coffee or tea?
Coffee.
Favorite season in Saint Paul?
Fall.
Favorite park activity?
Running.
Trail walk or picnic?
Trail walk.
Sunrise or sunset?
Sunset.
If you weren’t a landscape architect?
“A plumber,” she laughs. “Or maybe an EMT.”
Not answers many people expect—but then again, Alice has never taken the expected path.
One Final Thought
When asked what she hopes people feel when they visit a Saint Paul park ten years from now, her answer came without hesitation.
“I hope they feel welcome.”
And after that?
“I hope they find a reason to keep coming back.”
Given the passion she brings to her work, it’s hard to imagine they won’t.