2010-02-08 City Council Study Session - Parkview Gardens Parks Plan

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MINUTES OF UNIVERSITY CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION February 8, 2010 The Council Study Session, held on the Fifth Floor of the City Hall, on Monday, February 8, 2010, was called to order by Mayor Joseph Adams at 5:30 p.m. The following members of the Council were present: Mr. Terry Crow Mr. Michael Glickert Mr. Arthur Sharpe, Jr. Mr. Robert Wagner Ms. Lynn Ricci Mayor Joseph Adams Mr. Byron Price arrived at 6:20 p.m. Also present were the City Manager Julie Feier, Director of Community Relations & Local Government Affairs, Cheryl Adelstein of Washington University and City Attorney John Mulligan The study session was a presentation of the Parkview Gardens Park Plan long-range design and implementation plan for the three municipal parks within the Parkview Gardens neighborhood presented by John Hoal from H3. The redevelopment plan for the Parkview Gardens parks focused on how the parks can best serve the community as well as function as a catalyst for the continued revitalization of the Parkview Gardens Neighborhood. Its success is dependent on the positioning of these parks within the context of residential and mixed-use development supporting a strong population and daily park users. Neighborhood open space plan is an important concept in describing a usable park. Successful parks maintain a daily use based on the sense of safety that the park provides. Visibility and accessibility from the surrounding area is the most critical aspect of safety. The current location and configuration of the Parkview Gardens parks severely reduces their visibility and access; Ackert Park is embedded in a row of buildings, Eastgate Park is located behind fast food restaurants at a busy and pedestrian-unfriendly intersection and 75 percent of the perimeter of Metcalfe Park is concealed behind buildings. The vision of this plan is to build on Parkview Gardens historical legacy, continue to develop a walkable, vibrant and sustainable transit-oriented neighborhood framed by great street and parks. Metcalfe Park is sandwiched between the historic Delmar Gardens apartments and a band of underdeveloped industrial facilities, thus 75 percent is located behind buildings. The success of this park will be in increasing it’s use as well as its visibility and access from the street. The design concept is to develop it as a multi-age, multi-use destination park. Ackert Park is a pocket park located roughly midpoint between Delmar and Vernon. The opportunity for this park is to act as a connector between the east and west sides of the neighborhood. Presently it is not ADA friendly. The large playground designed for toddlers is a main programmatic element.