Parks – Page 2 – j.a.b.LOG

August 12, 2013August 13, 2013

Recreating Historically Significant Public Spaces

Before restoration, the dock was unsafe and closed to the public.

by Mike Perfetti

Public parks and outdoor civic spaces provide many day-to-day and long-term civic and environmental functions. Park creation and re-creation require coordination and collaboration between designers and stakeholders in order to create a design that reflects the desires, trends, and economics of a community at a specific point in time. As well, the design must respect the past while responding to perceived environmental factors. Communities inevitably change and as time grinds away we are tasked with recreating the place. If we do it right, the place will be renewed and become beloved in new ways.

Understanding and Appreciating the Past

Many parks are rich with histories treasured by their communities. These stories are vital to a community’s identity.

Like buildings, outdoor public spaces can be historic, and are often guarded by the people who love them. For landscape architects, it’s important to engage with the community and project stakeholders and to demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of the past. We must also demonstrate the ability to implement changes that preserve, and ideally, enrich that history.

What are some of today’s cultural trends and environmental factors that affect parks? There are many. Some examples include

The popularity of dog-ownership
Urban Densification
Cultural diversity
Sea level rise

Old Town Dock

J.A. Brennan Associates has worked on several projects recently that featured the redesign of historically significant civic spaces. One project is Tacoma’s Old Town Dock. Located on the shores of Commencement Bay, the dock is an important place where people of the historic Old Town neighborhood connect with the water. Old Town was once a fishing village, which eventually grew into part of Tacoma’s industrial waterfront. Old Town Dock was built in 1873 and served the shipping industry until operations moved. The dock fell into disrepair, was condemned, then rebuilt in 1953 and opened to public use with the additions of railings, benches, lighting, a restroom, shelter, and artificial reef. As Tacoma’s Ruston Way waterfront was changing from industrial use to recreational use, the dock became a popular public space, but was closed in 2008 after it was determined to be unsafe.

Working with Owners and Stakeholders

The City hired Reid Middleton, with J.A. Brennan, to design the dock renovation and restore the vital public space. The design team worked closely with the Old Town Dock Citizen Advisory Group to understand the history of the dock and the Old Town Neighborhood. We incorporated many of the advisory group’s recommendations within the context of the Ruston Way waterfront, while accommodating the City’s project budget.

The advisory group sought to recall the character of the older dock and relate to its setting in the Old Town neighborhood. The group wanted to provide day-use moorage and launching for human-powered watercraft, opportunities for water access and enjoyment, and strengthen the connection between the dock and Old Town.

Re-creation

The re-created dock maintains its original footprint. For the design of the dock, floats, and upland area, we tried to achieve the advisory group’s goals through the selection of appropriate materials, namely wood on the dock, and brick onshore. Both materials relate the character of the dock and neighborhood. Double mast-arm lights, designed by Harbor Power Engineering in collaboration with J.A. Brennan, recall the old wharf’s design standards.

The old wood decking was generally in disrepair but some wood was in good condition, allowing for adaptive reuse. This salvaged wood was laid in a distinctive pattern beneath the viewing pavilion. Originally a wood-shingled roof structure, the pavilion was restored with a standing-seam metal roof and rebuilt to recall the original pavilion.

“Droplets” — a series of 9″ to 12” circular porcelain enamel art installations, by Chandler O’ Leary — are dispersed throughout the site and depict past and present scenes of Tacoma’s waterfront. The installation adds intrigue and contributes to the sense of place, providing dock visitors with a subtle and beautiful journey through time.

The dock was renovated and reopened May 15, 2013. The design process was a successful collaboration between designer and stakeholders, and the outcome reflects the needs of the community while enhancing the historic character of the place. Since its opening, Old Town Dock has been a smashing hit in Tacoma’s Old Town neighborhood, defining public space, expressing its history, and drawing people to the water.

June 13, 2013

Nature Play

TNC_snag_DSC_0134 — Custom designed climbing/play snag at Discovery Pond, Tacoma Nature Center, Tacoma, WA

Recently Mike Perfetti, senior associate, presented at the Washington Recreation & Park Association’s (WRPA) Annual Conference & Trade Show, held this year in Vancouver, WA. WRPA’s mission is to promote excellence of current and future Parks and Recreation professionals through advocacy, education, networking, and training.

Mike’s presentation, Nature-based Playgrounds: From Design to Operation, provided insight for park managers, staff, and students interested in implementing nature play opportunities in public parks.

Background
Today there is substantial amount of awareness and supporting research regarding the unhealthy state of many American children. Since the release of Richard Louv’s best-selling book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2005), it has become a priority among parents and park managers to help children play safely outdoors and, at the same time, benefit from the teachings of the natural world.

In his book, Louv cites the well-known obesity epidemic among American children today and the lack of exposure to the natural world, which he posits inhibits nature appreciation, understanding, and survival skills, as well as physical conditioning. He believes this lack of exposure to the outdoors has to do with parents’ and guardians’ real and perceived fears, as well as a high level of exposure to time-consuming pursuits of gaming and video watching.

Mike’s presentation advocates for the implementation of nature-based play opportunities within public spaces. Mike describes two nature play models:

Model 1: The Informal Free Play Model

Mathison Park nature play features in Burien, WA

In this model, nature play takes place on a piece of public land set aside for that purpose, or within which it is an allowed use, but the amount of introduced play components is kept to a minimum. This model represents nature play at its core, allowing children to play in an essentially undeveloped, naturalistic environment, and is also beneficial in terms of being inexpensive to implement.

Model 2: The Fabricated Nature Play Model

Tree house structure at Discovery Pond, Tacoma Nature Center

The fabricated nature play model relies on introducing fabricated play components into an area, which provide some degree of nature-oriented play and/or learning. This is useful in a number of applications, such as sites that lack significant natural components, or where maintenance, liability or supervision may be issues. This can be a particularly effective model in terms of appealing to a great number of people, and can be adapted to a wide variety of sites and conditions.

Case Study

TNC_Overview_DSC_0107 — Discovery Pond at the Tacoma Nature Center

Mike presented J.A. Brennan’s design for the Discovery Pond Nature-based Playground at the Tacoma Nature Center as the major case study in understanding how to implement nature-based play in a park. He highlighted the need for outlining a program with goals and objectives and listening to stakeholder input as key components to creating a successful nature play area.

Discovery Pond is centered around a recirculating water feature and features an array of fabricated natural-looking play elements that serve children of all ages and is ADA accessible. The design carefully restores the site and creates a natural appearance that complements the Nature Center’s site and programming.

October 16, 2012

Moon Festival at Tacoma Chinese Reconciliation Park

The Moon Festival or Chinese Lantern Festival is a popular lunar harvest festival celebrated by Chinese people. The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar, close to the autumnal equinox.

This year the Tacoma Chinese Reconciliation Foundation and the City of Tacoma hosted the first-ever Moon Festival at the Tacoma Chinese Reconciliation Park on September 29. It was estimated that roughly 5,000 people turned out for the day-long event, which included dance and musical performances representing multi-ethnic traditions, food, calligraphy, tea ceremonies, and of course, the lantern parade after dusk.

J.A. Brennan has been involved with the park design since completion of the Master Plan in 2000. Since then, two phases of construction have been completed, but they are only the beginning. A 200-person gathering hall, reflection pond, open-air pavilion (ting), art display space and classrooms are in the cards, in addition to a beautiful array of plants and outdoor rooms that are quintessential in a Chinese garden.

The turnout at the festival was astonishing. Seeing the traditions represented in the talent-filled performances was truly inspiring. The Tacoma Chinese Reconciliation Park provides a special place for reconciliation as well as celebration. With each phase, the story unfolds and celebration continues.

For more information click here.

August 20, 2012August 23, 2012

Don Morse Park Beach Restoration Update, Chelan, WA

Park use is up substantially and visitors are having a great experience now that the bulkhead has been buried and the park has a beach designed by the J.A. Brennan Associates team. Next spring native aspen trees and other vegetation will be added to create shade, beautify the site, and enhance the riparian habitat.

July 12, 2012

Swan Creek Public Meeting

Last night Jim and Mike presented the schematic design for the 1st phase of Metro Parks Tacoma’s Swan Creek Park. The meeting was open to the public, and held at the Portland Avenue Community Center in Tacoma’s Eastside neighborhood, where the 380-or so acre park lies. The meeting was attended by neighborhood residents, former-residents, members of the Friends of Swan Creek, community gardeners, and other folks interested in the proposed improvements. The plan calls for a new gathering space focused around community gardening. This area will serve as a launching point for park visitors to venture off into the miles of wooded trails being added at the park. The improvements will surely give east side residents a good means to access and behold this gem of a park.

May 29, 2012May 29, 2012

ParkScore Project

The Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore website recently ranked US cities for park space. Seattle scored 9 out of the 40 cities ranked. The website lists Green Lake Park as Seattle’s most visited park!