In 2007, prior to the City’s initiation of the Fountain District Urban Village Master Planning Process, Lettered Streets Neighbor and ReStore Public Outreach Coordinator Jason Darling launched an extensive public process to engage neighbors, businesses and the general public in revitalization planning for the Fountain Plaza Park. To read more about the Fountain Plaza 2007 visioning meetings visit the ReStore link here.
Two years later during the Spring 2009 Fountain District Urban Village planning process, the Fountain Plaza Park was identified as an underutilized asset in the Fountain District area. As a result a follow up “Focus Group Place-making Party in the Street†was planned. (Place-making is a term coined by the Project For Public Spaces, a nonprofit organization that helps cities make the most of their public spaces. For more information go to www.pps.org).
One purpose of the event was to promote local business and to bring them together within the greater community. Another goal was to use the event to experiment with new and different ways to utilize the plaza park as a neighborhood amenity. By temporarily closing Monroe Street between Broadway and Meridian for the afternoon, Speak EZ’s Restaurant was able to utilize the street for outdoor dining and a temporary “stage†was set up for local musicians to perform under the big oak tree. Additionally, there was an area for children’s activities, Community Produce Exchange tables and the ReStore brought in their Recycled Art Station.
The event was well-attended and provided an opportunity to build relationships with neighbors and businesses, and to experience Fountain Plaza Park from an entirely new perspective. The public was invited work as a team to observe, document and study how the Fountain Plaza Park space functioned under new uses. Comments, observations and photographs resulting from the day are provided in the links, below:
