A few dozen people attended last night’s workshop to catch a glimpse of four concepts for the 39,000 square foot park on 9th Ave. between 70th & 73rd.
From a formal garden (above) to open common grounds (below), the design group presented several ideas. (See larger versions here and here.)
According to Ryan Bogden, one of the neighbors at the meeting, “The most popular concepts were to have a big open green/lawn area near the south end, some sort of kids play area with equipment integrated with earthworks, sitting areas (and) pathways meandering through the park,” he said. “Other popular ideas included extending the park on the west side by taking out the existing parking slots, removing the most of the old structure but maybe keeping some sort of remnants, and a community garden or p-patch.”
The main debates, he says, were the swings and the p-patch idea. People like the swings, but they take up a lot of room. As far as the gardens go, one side feels that a p-patch in a public park doesn’t make sense. Others felt the gardens would provide a good sense of security and community. “Overall the group agreed that they wanted the park to be more of an informal common area for all ages to participate and did not want anything to formal or that required too much maintenance,” Bogden says. The other two concepts can be seen here and here.
The third and final meeting for the formation of this park will be held on January 28th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Whittier Elementary. At this meeting, Site Workshop will present a preferred design which they develop from the feedback they’ve received.