Kent and Sue Massie found a surprise when they designed and oversaw the renovation of the Lincoln Park lagoon in Springfield.
"We needed to excavate the ponds because they were filled with silt, and we discovered old bicycles and park light fixtures at the bottom of the lagoon," Sue said. "The old light fixtures had apparently either fallen or been pushed into the pond. So we discovered some treasures during that project," she added with a chuckle.
The husband-and-wife team of Massie Massie & Associates Inc. has seen many things during the firm's 50 years in business, including 47 of those years in Springfield. Their landscape architectural design work is evident nearly everywhere you look in the city, and the Massies continue to be involved in some of the area's largest and most prominent public works projects.
Massie Massie & Associates is also in the midst of the changing of the guard, with the Massies gradually ceding ownership and operation to longtime associate Neil Brumleve, who has been with the firm since 2006. Brumleve assumed full ownership of the business on Jan. 1, 2024, but the firm's name has stayed the same for now and the Massies continue to work on projects as needed.
"We'll stay on as long as Neil needs us," Sue said.
Massie Massie & Associates began 50 years ago in an 1832 building in Nauvoo. The young married couple had just completed college and an eight-month traveling fellowship in Europe, and Kent and Sue hit the ground running with several interesting jobs right off the bat. Their early work included designs for a 1,600-acre Girl Scout camp and major downtown improvements in Fort Madison, Iowa and Moweaqua, Illinois. But the Massies soon decided they needed to move to a larger city and chose Springfield.
At first the business was located in a studio above their residential garage. The operation was later moved to a historic house, now painted blue, on Fifth Street just south of Springfield Clinic's main campus. The Massies then acquired and renovated the historic Kreider House before purchasing their current location, the historic, 1882 vintage Steele House on Fifth Street just north of South Grand Avenue.
Massie Massie & Associates was busy from the moment it opened shop in Springfield. Besides work on numerous local parks, including the Springfield Park District's Master Plan, it designed improvements for parks in Chatham, Rochester and Fairbury; designed trails in McDonough, Effingham and Franklin counties; designed an arboretum in Carbondale, and did work for the Illinois Tollway in northern Illinois.
"That was a time when there was a lot of money available for parks and open spaces," Sue said. "There were new community parks being developed, land was being purchased and smaller parks were being renovated."
The firm's work has not been limited to parks. Many public areas are a result of the Massies' design creativity, including the Illinois Governor's Mansion and the nearby Illinois Realtors' Bicentennial Plaza. The business works its design magic using the sometimes mundane sidewalks, pavement, lighting, outdoor furniture, planters and even trash receptacles that are part of park and streetscape projects.
As the firm's reputation has grown, many of the area's major institutions now use Massie Massie & Associates for their significant projects.
"In the past few years, we've been fortunate to work with all of the medical facilities in town, Lincoln Land Community College and University of Illinois Springfield," Kent said. "It's nice to be involved in the majority of projects that have occurred in the Springfield area."
Massie Massie & Associates provides a full range of landscape architecture services from preliminary concepts to master plans, and it routinely does on-site observation and coordination of the resulting construction projects. It places a priority on designing improvements that are accessible to people with disabilities. That has familiarized Kent and Sue with the parks and downtowns of many central Illinois communities including Jacksonville, Mount Pulaski, Galesburg, Monmouth, Macomb, Rantoul, Pittsfield, Rushville and Mount Sterling.
New owner Neil Brumleve took the lead on the massive, four-year downtown Decatur renovation project and is heading up the firm's effort on the downtown Bloomington renovation. He is also heavily involved in the north wing renovation project at the Illinois Capitol.
"It'll be quite the transformation. The entry plaza will be at street level – which will be the main entry – and an oval sidewalk will lead to the upper level," Brumleve said. "We are trying to preserve as many trees as possible, and hopefully it will all look like it seamlessly fits into the Capitol landscape."
Both of the Massies treasure their 30-year design relationship with Lincoln Memorial Garden on Lake Springfield, the environmental masterpiece created by world-renowned landscape architect Jens Jensen in the 1930s. When they first became involved with the garden, the Massies convened a meeting with Jensen experts to fully understand what Jensen was trying to attain with his design. They also found inspiration from Jensen's original plans for the garden that were discovered in the garden's Nature Center attic during the 1980s.
The firm has used Jensen's famed stone council circle designs in several other projects such as the Route 97 and Route 123 wayside history installation near Petersburg and the Adams Wildlife Sanctuary in Springfield. Brumleve is also finishing up work on the Woodland Garden area at Lincoln Memorial Garden, and he's honored and humbled to have been associated with the Massies and with Jensen's legacy.
"This was my first job out of college, and Kent and Sue have been great mentors," said Brumleve, an Effingham native. "You quickly realize that there is always something to learn."
Brumleve said that landscape architecture has proven to be a very rewarding career, and he's proud to take the reins of a five-decade-old firm.
"As times change, designs have to adapt," Brumleve said. "What landscape architects bring to the table are creativity, specific materials use, environmental and aesthetic awareness and the ability to incorporate all of that into meaningful designs."
Brumleve and new associate JunFen Vilatte are currently the full-time designers at the firm, with Kent and Sue Massie continuing to help as needed.
"We have been fortunate over the years to have been involved with many wonderful teams as these projects become reality," Kent said. "We've been able to work with different engineers, building architects and construction firms and have developed quite a reputation for being able to work on just about any type of project."
Massie Massie & Associates has followed a simple business philosophy that has served them well for five decades. Kent Massie said that it's all about giving clients what they want and need.
"You need to listen to the client and know exactly what their goals are," Kent said. "Then you start to look at function and aesthetics and try to weave everything together to work within their guidelines."
Sue Massie said she has enjoyed her 50-year career.
"It's fun to take the lead on the concept and design, then work with the engineers to figure out how we can make it work," Sue said.
