Tenleytown Main Street is adding a little green to our urban landscape on Friday, September 16. In celebration of PARK(ing) Day, we will create a temporary mini-park in two metered parking spaces on Albemarle Street in front of Best Buy.
The park, which was designed by TMS Design Committee member Hilary Oat-Judge, will be a place for people to gather, relax, and enjoy a new perspective on Tenleytown.
Begun in 2005 in San Francisco, PARK(ing) Day is a global event in which citizens and community activists turn metered parking spaces into public spaces for one day. The annual event seeks to call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat … at least until the meter runs out!
Oat-Judge suggested the mini-park concept to Tenleytown Main Street as a way for residents and visitors to reimagine how they engage with the business district. “I’ve seen in New York how transforming small parts of the road into pocket parks can completely change the way people interact with their neighborhood and with each other,” says Oat-Judge, who is a landscape architect. “The parks slow people down and give them a place to relax in the midst of the city.”
Tenleytown Main Street volunteers will welcome passersby to the park. Visitors can take a break from the bustle of the day and share their thoughts on how Tenleytown can improve its open space.
“We have very little public open space with seating in the heart of Tenleytown, and I’m excited to see how this one-day park can enhance people’s sense of community,” says Oat-Judge.
The Tenleytown PARK(ing) Day park will be open from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Come by and sit a spell!