The Kick-Off event for the Spring Avenue Park Design Project, planned for Saturday, October 24, from 2-5pm in the Park, has been canceled due to the recent rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in the City and surrounding area.
The purpose of the Kick-Off event was twofold. First, to introduce the project to the community.
“The project is just getting underway but engaging people early and often is top priority,” stated Dr. Jeff Raykes, Planning Director at the City of Greensburg. “The second purpose of the event was to gather feedback on how people use the park now and their vision for how the park could be used in the future.”
To gather this feedback, planners had organized a series of games, activities, and surveys designed to collect attendee’s ideas about the Park.
Over the last two weeks, planners have been retooling the community engagement strategy for the project. An online survey and a series of virtual design workshops and stakeholder interviews will be happening in the next several weeks. The online survey includes 14 multiple-choice questions, designed to unpack people’s vision for the Park. Anyone can take the survey and it only takes a few minutes to complete. The virtual design workshops are planned for Wednesday, November 11, 6:30-8:00pm; Friday, November 13, time to be announced; and Saturday, November 14, 10:00am-12:30pm. The workshops are opportunities to collaborate with designers using interactive online tools.
“The virtual design workshops will allow us to engage with the community within a digital workspace for visual collaboration on ideas for activities, programs, and design elements for Spring Avenue Park in the future,” noted Katie Kovalchik, EPD’s project manager and Director of Landscape Architecture. “Anyone interested in participating should register in advance.”
Anyone interested in taking the survey or participating in the virtual design workshops should go to the project webpage on the City website at: https://www.greensburgpa.org/planning development/pages/spring-ave-park-project
The broad objective the Spring Avenue Park Project is to work with residents, and other stakeholders, to rethink the design of the Park and how it is used, in ways that would make it the focus of the surrounding neighborhood and a desired destination in the City. The project is currently in the design phase which is anticipated to last approximately 11 months. The design phase will be followed by construction in 2021—2022.
The project is guided by a 15-person Steering Committee led by a consultant team from Pittsburgh-based Environmental Planning & Design (EPD). The group was formed under the guidance of the City Planning Commission and planning staff and tasked with working with stakeholders and the consultant team to guide the design phase of the project.
Additional information about the project on the project webpage listed above. Specific questions should be directed to Dr. Jeff Raykes at the City Planning & Development Office via email jraykes@greensburgpa.org
