You may have noticed a little more activity than usual on Central Avenue near Lowry Friday, Sept. 16.
Katrina Nygaard, an Urban Planner at the local engineering firm Stantec, explained what all the action was about. “We are partnering with the Women in Landscape Architecture to put on Park(ing) Day in Minneapolis. Park(ing) Day is sort of an international festival. If you go on Twitter you’ll see photos from Manchester, Madrid, Boston, etc.”
Parklets are essentially expansions of the sidewalk and temporary use of the street space next to it. The space on Central took up approximately 30 feet of parking in front of Sen Yai Sen Lek. There people relaxed, ate, played board games and listened to music. “We helped the students from Edison High School actually design these. These are their activities and ideas they built in real life,” explained Nygaard.
A permit for the space was granted by the City as well as the “No Parking” signs for the day. The reactions throughout the day had been positive. “They were just excited to see something interesting going on the street,” Nygaard said. Obvious concerns were the barriers that separate pedestrians from the traffic. On that Friday there were bales of hay and potted plants. Nygaard said that for more than a day, they would seek structures such as
concrete barriers or fences around such areas.
Currently the City of Minneapolis has a pilot program for Parklets. All around the city you may find spaces like bike racks and mini cafes. Nygaard said they are hoping that they can move from the pilot stage to having businesses actually being able to get a permit for Parklet spaces during the summer months.
Photo by Mike Madison