Pioneer Information
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Lister attended Williams College for two years before transferring to Harvard University, graduating with an A.B. degree in 1929. He subsequently studied landscape architecture at Cornell University, receiving a B.L.A. in 1933 and an M.L.A. in 1935. Upon graduating he was awarded the Rome Prize in Landscape Architecture and studied in Europe for two years. Returning to the United States in 1937, Lister worked in New York City, where he assisted Gilmore Clarke and served on the Board of Design for the 1939 World’s Fair. Moving back to his native city in 1938, Lister worked as a senior landscape architect for the Department of Parks and Property, designing portions of the Italian Cultural Garden in Rockefeller Park, sections of Gordon Park, and developing a plan for the Cleveland Mall, which was not implemented. He served as an assistant planner for the City Planning Commission, becoming the city’s Freeway Expediter in 1945 and Commissioner of Design and Construction in 1948.
Lister served as the Director of the City Planning Commission from 1949 to 1957, at which point he was appointed the city’s first Director of Urban Renewal and Housing, overseeing the development of several neighborhoods including University Circle. During his tenure, the city engaged I.M. Pei & Associates to develop the 1961 Erieview Urban Renewal Plan, which shaped the development of Cleveland’s downtown into the late twentieth century. Lister retired as director in 1966 and continued practicing privately, consulting on projects in Willoughby Hills and Hambden Township, Ohio. He passed away at his Cleveland home and was buried in Brecksville Cemetery south of the city.
