Millennium Park is getting a place lift.
The city has opted to use a planning strategy of placemaking over traditional design to decide what the final space will look like.
“For us, placemaking is a community process,” Teaka Broughm, project manager for the city, said. “The community really helps you along. They are the experts and they shape what is going into the park.”
The planning process starts by focusing on what will happen in the space, rather than what the space will look like.
“You design for the use, rather than just design to design,” Broughm said.
On Wednesday night Broughm, along with international placemaking expert Cynthia Nikitin who is vice-president of the Project for Public Spaces, and Antonio Gomez-Palacio, planner from the design company DIALOG, addressed dozens of people in the Arden Theatre to explain the concept of placemaking and get public feedback on the project.
Much of the design concept will focus on diversity and making a space that everybody can use, which will maximize connectivity between citizens. The placemaking process puts emphasis on creating public spaces that promote health, happiness and well-being.
Millennium Park is currently the undeveloped open space bordering the Sturgeon River and sitting next to the provincial courthouse.
The development of the park will help connect the existing Lions Park, St. Albert Place, the new St. Anne Promenade, Red Willow Park and surrounding areas. The city hopes the progress of the park along the river will help revitalize downtown.
Broughm and her team hosted six pop-up consultation booths around the city over the summer and collected feedback from the public. Their goal was to engage with community members who wouldn’t typically come to meetings.
After gathering information for several months, the team has seen some trends in the feedback. Overall community members say they would like to see the integration of green spaces, pop-up food vendors and strategic programming.
The next public session will be on Sept. 28 from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. at the St. Albert Curling Club where the team will be presenting their findings from the past few months.
Broughm and her team are still looking for public feedback and ideas for Millennium Park. Questions and comments should go to project manager Teaka Broughm at [email protected] or 780-418-6629.
