Columbia Association's Legacy of Investing in the Lakefront

Columbia Association’s Legacy of Investing in the Lakefront

October 1, 2025

We love seeing community happen in so many CA spaces, and the Downtown Columbia Lakefront is definitely one of our favorites 💚💙. It’s home to the iconic People Tree, Lakefront Live, Festive Fridays and countless memorable moments.

For more than 50 years, CA has been proud to care for this space year-round, investing in the Lakefront and the community it brings together. Shout-out to the Columbia Maryland Archives for being an incredible resource and sharing the history of the Lakefront and its legacy as a source of community pride.

Lakefront milestones

📍1966: Development of Columbia begins; Lake Kittamaqundi is one of the first projects.

📍1967: Lakefront fountain construction starts.

📍1968: First fish stocked in Lake Kittamaqundi and Wilde Lake.

📍1972: “Lakefront Entertainment” (now Lakefront Live) debuts.

📍1973: Town Center Community Association is incorporated.

📍2002: “Dealings” sculpture of James & Willard Rouse installed at the Lakefront. It was commissioned in 1986 and was placed in front of Symphony Woods Office Center. In 1999, it was placed in storage until CA purchased it in 2000.

3 facts about the People Tree

If you’ve been to the Lakefront, chances are you’ve spotted this iconic landmark.

🌟 The People Tree was created by Parisian artist and sculptor Pierre du Fayet in 1967.

🌟 The tree’s “branches” are made up of 66 interconnected human figures, symbolizing a community reaching for harmony, growth and well-being.

🌟 Had it been made entirely of metal, the sculpture would have weighed two tons! Instead, du Fayet used silicone rubber molds to cast epoxy resin mixed with silica powder, then finished it with gold leaf. A temporary steel pipe cage helped align the branches uniformly.

Extra, extra! Read all about it

Check out clippings from Columbia Today, the internal newsletter of the Rouse Company, from the early days of the Lakefront.

This clipping from spring 1966 outlines the proposed landscape design of the Lakefront and Wilde Lake Village.

This clipping from winter 1966 discusses CA and its role in Columbia as “an efficient means of operation and maintenance of them [facilities and open space]”.