From left: Ben E. Donsky, senior project manager, Biederman Redevelopment Ventures Corporation;Antonio Fiol-Silva , principal, WRT; Will Rogers, president and chief executive officer, The Trust for Public Land; James D. Burnett, president, The Office of James Burnett speaking at the ULI Fall Meeting in San Francisco.
Urban open space is increasingly viewed as a prized cultural asset. The role of open space in cities was the focus of a panel at ULI’s recent Fall Meeting. Will Rogers, chief executive officer (CEO) at the Trust for Public Land, tapped into the philosophy behind urban parks, offering tips on ways to make the spaces cultural assets that connect with local populations. Other panelists gave practical examples of parks and industrial brownfields that have been reimagined as cultural resources.
Whether they serve an entire city or just a neighborhood, parks, according to Rogers, have become “dynamic, engaging places that bring real benefits to a city” through a process he called “creative place making.” He characterized these open spaces, which are usually free for everyone, as “real democratizers” that bring together disparate elements of a community. A good example is New Freedom Park, a former dusty lot in a multinational refugee community in Denver. The local community in partnership with the city and local foundations transformed the space into common ground where garden plots, a soccer field, shaded seating, and play spaces engage people from diverse cultures.
Rogers described creative place making as “a cooperative community-based process that leads to new and rejuvenated open spaces, reflecting local identity through arts and culture.” Examples range from Millennium Park in Chicago that serves an entire city to parks in places with high density such as Maywood, one of the most densely populated cities in the U.S. West.
These places are not to be confused with public art, Rogers cautioned. “You really have to understand the culture to identify what those residents want. It can’t be superficial. To help the community understand the design process and their role in it, you have to move beyond formulaic community outreach processes.” Another essential is having a trustworthy person from the community on board. Partnership are important, but Rogers warned, “The more partnerships, the more complex it gets. You want to pick the right ones.” If everything else is done right, you will also get the sense of stewardship and local caring that carry the project forward once it is complete.
Creative place making can turn a neglected white elephant into a site that injects new life into an urban center.
Working with a broad public and private coalition, James Burnett transformed a 15-acre (6 ha) site that had fallen into disrepair into a centerpiece for redevelopment in Oklahoma City. Myriad Botanical Gardens, which merges the concepts of a botanical garden and an urban park, merited ULI’s 2015 Urban Open Space Award. Just having 15 acres downtown is unusual, Burnett said, and every square foot was redeveloped. New additions included an extensive children’s botanic discovery park and a dog park. “We expanded the palette of native Oklahoma garden plants and brought activity down to the water’s edge,” he explained. Like many new parks, it includes a restaurant element and has year-round active programming.
Burnett is intimately familiar with creative place making, having created Klyde Warren Park, a five-acre (2 ha) deck park over the recessed Woodall Rodgers Freeway in Dallas. Originally conceived to connect various elements and buildings in the arts district, the park has become a hub for the entire community. Sustainable landscaping includes 37 native plant species and 322 trees. Construction spanned a few years, but the entire process took about ten, according to Burnett. Initially, he said, it was difficult for some to accept the idea of a children’s play area located over a freeway or the inclusion of a dog park. Today, the park provides daily free programs ranging from yoga to book signings to films and concerts and includes a performance pavilion, a restaurant, and a great lawn that can accommodate 4,000.
By contrast, the former the Bethlehem Steel Plant stood as a forlorn reminder of the region’s heritage as a major producer of steel used to fabricate skyscrapers, bridges, and buildings, such as those in Madison Square Garden. At one time, the plant employed as many as 31,000 people. After it closed in 1995, the community rallied to find a new purpose for the industrial brownfield. The challenge, according to Antonio Fiol-Silva, principal at Wallace Roberts & Todd, was “to bring back the activity of the site and of steel as a driver for the city.” The site eventually was turned into SteelStacks, an arts and entertainment district to showcase music and art as well as provide educational programming and space for community gathering. Rather than being demolished, many of the existing structures were integrated into the plan, which pays tribute to the region’s heritage. The five stacks of the blast furnace form a backdrop for a grassy open-air park. The performance pavilion appears almost like a piece of origami unfolding from the stacks. A 36-foot (11 m) elevated linear park was constructed on top of the Hoover Mason Trestle, the site of a narrow-gauge railroad that brought raw materials to the furnaces. The elevated walk and greenway afford a close-up view of the historic structures as well as a spectacular view of the site and surrounding community. A self-guided tour gives insights into how steel was manufactured. By demonstrating that heritage can be preserved when a site is redeveloped, SteelStacks may one day become an icon in its own right.
