Whether it be a whimsical slide that connects Winthrop School to Riverside Park, or more practical tactics such as how traffic and sightlines will be planned, the place to be to shape the future of Riverside Park is at the next Creative Placemaking Workshop presented by New London Landmarks.
All are welcome to participate in the workshop, which is held 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, November 28th at the Winthrop School Library, 74 Grove Street.
Led by University of Connecticut’s landscape architect Peter Miniutti and Madeline Schad, the workshop follows up on ideas gathered from Sept. 19.
Community members from the Riverside Park and Hodges Square area are encouraged to join the brainstorming session. How do we attract people to this park, a true jewel of New London that has languished too long? Is there a need for a community garden? If we put in an all-season pavilion, how could that enhance not only the park, but become a hub for the radiating area of Hodges Square.
We are thinking big, and we invite all dreamers, pragmatists, and insightful folks to the table with us. Workshops will continue into the spring of 2013, with the goal of developing a master plan for Riverside Park and the Historic Area.
The large maps of Riverside Park will be out again, and participants, broken into groups, can visualize how things can be shaped with the help of strips of paper cut to scale to represent things like playscapes, parking spaces, basketball courts, etc. Another crucial element in the consensus building activity is to compare all of the groups’ shared vision as well as observing the divergences.
This is fun work, with so much to do – where do the playgrounds, restrooms, and parking all go? Will there be a zipline, how do bicycle paths fit in, and what about that skating park? And how do we cluster the attractions so that they will be relaxing and accessible to families and individuals?
Nothing is more invigorating than a blank canvas, but the park has its challenges, all of which we know can be best met by the ingenuity of area residents. Come join us for the future of the beautiful Riverside Park that will be planned by the community, for the community!
CREATIVE PLACEMAKING for the Riverside Park Neighborhood is made possible by a grant from the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) and the Office of the Arts.
For more information about the Creative Placemaking Workshop, call (860) 442-0003, or visit www.NLRiversideArt.org or www.newlondonlandmarks.org
