GOLD COAST — Patrons of Washington Square Park will have another opportunity to give their opinion on potential park changes this weekend.
After collecting feedback from several hundred residents, The Washington Square Park Advisory Council will present its findings and solicit additional input from residents at a public meeting April 9 from 9 a.m. to noon at Ogden Elementary, 24 W. Walton St.
During the Saturday meeting, the council will present the feedback it has collected to residents and ask them to participate in a placemaking exercise, meaning they will visit the park, observe how it is being used and identify ways to improve it, said Nina Winston, co-chair of the council’s landscaping committee.
“There’s a lot about this park that people love,” Winston said. “What we’re trying to create here is a plan that is sustainable, community-driven and can be built upon in the years to come.”
Last month, council members and volunteers conducted several dozen in-person interviews about the park's current state and what updates could be done to improve it and added that feedback to the nearly 250 online survey responses it collected in late 2015.
The report analyzing the online responses is available here. Among its key findings were the park’s need for better safety lighting, improved landscaping and additional maintenance.
Once the residents give the council with their feedback from the placemaking exercise, the council, nonprofit management consultant Alison Zehr and landscape architect Chris Gent will sort out and compile those ideas and present the narrowed-down proposals to the public in mid-May, Winston said.
Aimée Laberge, director of cultural programs at the Alliance Française, which is a block and a half away from the park, said she occasionally strolls through the park from time when taking a break from work. While volunteering with the council to conduct interviews, she spoke with patrons who had been visiting the park for 15 years as well as delighted newcomers, all of whom had different reasons why they enjoyed the space.
“[The park] means different things to different people,” Laberge said. “It’s not a big park, but it makes such a difference.”
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