At 6pm tonight (11/17/08) citizens will gather for a ‘design charrette‘ focusing on downtown’s Lucas Park.
Above: Volunteers on 9/13/08 work to beautify the park.
In short, a charrette is an intensified design process. Teams will assemble and draw & write out what they want for Lucas Park.
The current park was created 100 years ago. It once featured elaborate plantings and had few trees. It was symmetrical in both directions. The two North-South walkways and entrances align with the rear doorways of the library to the South across Locust St. Each of these walkways has a circle at its center. A drinking fountain exists at the East circle.
I’m rather fond of the original design. I say original but that is not quite accurate. The city was deeded this block in 1857. The city bought the block where the library is now located. From 1859-1883 the two blocks contained a large park. Locust St did not go through from 13th to 14th. That would be the true original park.
That park was wiped out in 1883 for the St Louis Exhibition and Music Hall. That hall was razed in 1907 current main Library, which opened in 1912. Locust St was cut through at this time. At some point during the 5 years it took to raze the old structure and build the library, the current design for Lucas Park was realized.
So, I like the 1907-1912 design of the park. In fact, it is in very good condition. On my team tonight I will advocate more a restoration/renovation than a completely new design. But I’d like to see a team or two come up with a fresh approach. We need as many different concepts as possible. We will have a drawing (view PDF) of the existing conditions as a starting point.
The park needs to be a reflection of today. That would include a pleasant outdoor place for people to sit and enjoy the park. That includes those that are homeless. However, while I don’t object to a homeless person enjoying the park I do object to bags of belongings surrounding trees. We need to find a way for the homeless to have a place to safely store their belongings as they search for employment, housing and treatment for any addictions or mental issues.
The Eastern end of the park was fenced off and used by a nearby daycare center for a playground. That center moved West near Jefferson last year. A prior charrette was done 5-6 years ago. At that time the children’s center was still using the playground so the thought was to mirror the design and fence the Western end for a dog park. The center, with the fountain, would have remained open to all.
But Larry Rice objected and the project stalled.
Today the neighborhood is very different than it was just six years ago. We have more residents, more dogs, and more children. The city says we have fewer homeless.
As with anything we need to strike a balance: residents, homeless, kids, dogs. Not one of these should be given so much priority in the park that it tips to being only for that one user group. The park can and must be shared by and for all.
So we’ll see what everyone comes up with tonight. We will be at Crepes in the City at 500 N. 14th (just North of the park). They are closed on Mondays so we are just using their space for the evening. The doors open at 5:30pm and we begin precisely at 6pm. I’ve got a short presentation of the history, recent conditions as well as images from other small urban parks to start the creative juices. We’ll give the teams instructions and set them to work from roughly 6:25 to 8:20pm. At 8:20pm each of the teams will present their park concept to the other teams. We will finished by 9pm.
Following the charrette we will begin incorporating the ideas from everyone into a master plan for the park, enabling us to seek public and/or private funding. The charrette is open to all who wish to participate.
Design professionals are encouraged to participate (and to bring markers & trace).
