The city has put forth plans for a redesign that ties into a larger proposal called the Great Streets Initiative. At a Planning Commission meeting recently, city officials spelled out how they would make the park and adjacent streets more attractive and sustainable public spaces.
“One of the core recommendations for the Main Street concept plan is to actually convert the diagonal parking along Main Street to parallel parking, throughout the whole corridor,” said Meagan Tuttle, with the Division of Planning and Zoning.
Tuttle told the commission that, since its inception, City Hall Park has functioned as public civic space with a path radiating from the center of the park where the focal point is a fountain. The city’s plan includes a performance space, retooled fountain, widened paths and more green space.
Planning Commission members also discussed proposals for improved lighting and the addition of kiosks in the park.
Residents, including Barbara McGrew, who spoke at the meeting, have suggested that the city’s redesign of the park is meant, in part, to remove the homeless people who frequent it or to make it less accommodating for them.
Members of the Coalition for a Livable City presented an alternative concept plan for City Hall Park, asserting that the city’s proposed design does not preserve the park’s historic character. The group’s proposal includes keeping the current fountain, monuments, benches and layout.
It would also add public restrooms and a full time employee to serve as a park guide and maintenance person. It would prohibit police from driving their cars into the park and limit large-scale events in the park.
“I welcome the input and appreciate the effort that went into developing an alternative concept,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger in a statement. “Their input — and all feedback from the public — will be considered carefully as the city’s design is finalized.”
The city held a series of public meetings to gather input in December and hopes to break ground on a revamped park in 2018.
