Happy International Museum Day! Museums are critically important institutions that advance and preserve knowledge; help us understand our world and imagine our future; foster a sense of community and connection; spark curiosity and wonder; and challenge us to learn and grow while increasing our sense of wellbeing. What is your favorite museum and why? Pictured, clockwise: Edo Museum of West African Art, Benin City, Nigeria The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington D.C., USA National Palace Museum or Taipei Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City, Mexico National History Museum, London, UK #InternationalMuseumDay #CSPM #ColoradoSpringsPioneersMuseum (fb)

In 1924 Floyd H. Tanaka was born in Colusa, California, and in 1937 his family settled in Los Angeles. As a result of the US government’s exclusion of Japanese Americans from the West Coast during the Second World War, he and his family were interned at Manzanar Relocation Center starting in 1942. Upon graduating as a member of the Manzanar High School’s first graduating class, he requested release. Leave was granted but Floyd was required to move inland. Unlike other western governors, Colorado’s Governor Ralph Carr welcomed Japanese Americans, and Floyd, together with much of his family, migrated to Denver in 1943. Floyd attended the University of Denver for one year—but the war intervened again. He reported for duty, joining the US Army’s highly decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which, excluding officers, was a unit comprised entirely of Japanese Americans. His service in Italy spurred his interest in architecture and planning. After the war ended, he returned to DU and graduated in 1951 with a degree in Architecture and Urban Planning. Colorado Springs’ then Planning Director, Alan Voorhees, hired the new graduate, and asked Floyd to take over as Planning Director while Voorhees sought further education. Voorhees did not return, so Floyd remained the Director, leading major initiatives such as the routing of Interstate 25 and the City’s preliminary planning for the Air Force Academy. Floyd left the city in 1954 to work for a private planning firm. Floyd was ever grateful for the opportunity offered by the City of Colorado Springs and its leadership’s support for city planning concepts in an era when such ideas were still new to western US cities. From 1956 to 1965 Floyd was Deputy Director of Urban Renewal in Denver. Floyd’s service to the Pikes Peak Region continued after he left his position with the City of Denver to form his own planning firm. He was one of the three founders of the planning firm THK Associates. As president of THK, he led or was responsible for many major projects in the region, including: ∙ Shooks Run—A redevelopment plan emphasizing open space corridors in this inner-city area of Colorado Springs; ∙ Banning Lewis Ranch—Development of the master plan for this large 28,000-acre community in northeast Colorado Springs; ∙ Emerald Necklace Park—Enhancement of General William Palmer’s plan for a network of parks in Colorado Springs; ∙ University of Colorado Cragmor Campus—Preliminary planning for CU’s Colorado Springs campus; ∙ Parklands and Recreation—Multiple projects involving master planning for Colorado Springs open space and parks as well as evaluation and recommendations for the City’s municipal golf courses; ∙ Clear Springs Ranch—Design of this 970-acre linear park along Fountain Creek south of Colorado Springs featuring grasslands, foothills ecosystems and riparian habitat; ∙ Fountain Creek from Colorado Springs to Pueblo—master plan for open space and parklands along the Fountain Creek corridor; and ∙ Manitou Springs Downtown—Development of a master plan for revitalization of the downtown area. Floyd’s career included major developments in Colorado and elsewhere, such as the Skyline Project in Downtown Denver which won an award from Progressive Architecture; and the redesign of the City of Rapid City, South Dakota, after the devastating flood in 1972, for which he won an award from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was appointed by Governor Love as one of the original members of the State of Colorado Land Use Commission. He retired from THK in 1995, but remained as a consultant with his firm until he passed away in 2008. Today, 54 years after its founding, THK Associates remains a thriving firm providing services in landscape architecture, economic analysis, marketing, park, recreational and project planning with continuing engagement in improving life in Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak Region. Courtesy of the Tanaka Family. Visit https://downtowncs.com/cultural-history-banners/to learn more about Downtown Colorado Springs Cultural Corridor Banner Project.⁠ #CSPM #ColoradoSpringsPioneersMuseum #AsianAmericanPacificIslanderMonth #AAPIHeritageMonth (fb)