metro
08-21-2008, 10:24 AM
I did a little "investigative journalism" and found the following info about the landscaping workshop that the public is invited to this Saturday. I really hope the media picks up on this and publicizes it. We need to actually get the public there and not be one of those corporate/city meetings and advertise it the day of when it's a morning event.
Devon's public landscaping workshop
Saturday 9:00 a.m.
Myriad Botanical Gardens Crystal Bridge Dean A. McGee Edcuation Center
Here is the excerpt I posted in the Devon Tower thread earlier:
Landscaping and the gardens
At a cost of $750 million, the new Devon headquarters will add millions of dollars to the city's tax increment financing district, which can be used to pay for public improvements downtown.
Devon Chairman and Chief Executive Larry Nichols said his company will only request a fraction of the TIF dollars generated by the project for creation of a 2.5-acre park that will front Sheridan Avenue, across from the Myriad Gardens.
The area will consist of a lawn, shade trees and fountains. The design by James Burnett and Murase Associates calls for a "living pool teeming with aquatic life. A public green will accommodate between 1,500 and 2,000 people during special events. At the western edge of the park, a pavilion will rise up from what is called "a skin of water and will provide a shaded space for festivities and picnic lunches.
Nichols hopes a significant amount of the TIF dollars generated by the project will pay for an overhaul of the Myriad Gardens, which already has seen an upgrade of its water stage funded by Devon. Nichols said his landscape architects also will be charged with assisting the city and the Myriad Gardens Foundation on possible improvements.
"It is a beautiful park, but there are not a lot of people in it, Nichols said. "There are some design flaws where the city over time really didn't have the money to do what needed to be done.
Nichols said discussions are already under way, and a design workshop Saturday will invite the public to tell landscape architects what they would like to see added to the park. "Restaurants, ice skating rinks, dog parks ... they have a list of 30 or so different features you could put into that park to really make it work, Nichols said. "Our hope is, when you really see what an urban park can do, it will create that much more enthusiasm for the long-term plans the city has for the really big park in the Core to Shore area.
Devon's public landscaping workshop
Saturday 9:00 a.m.
Myriad Botanical Gardens Crystal Bridge Dean A. McGee Edcuation Center
Here is the excerpt I posted in the Devon Tower thread earlier:
Landscaping and the gardens
At a cost of $750 million, the new Devon headquarters will add millions of dollars to the city's tax increment financing district, which can be used to pay for public improvements downtown.
Devon Chairman and Chief Executive Larry Nichols said his company will only request a fraction of the TIF dollars generated by the project for creation of a 2.5-acre park that will front Sheridan Avenue, across from the Myriad Gardens.
The area will consist of a lawn, shade trees and fountains. The design by James Burnett and Murase Associates calls for a "living pool teeming with aquatic life. A public green will accommodate between 1,500 and 2,000 people during special events. At the western edge of the park, a pavilion will rise up from what is called "a skin of water and will provide a shaded space for festivities and picnic lunches.
Nichols hopes a significant amount of the TIF dollars generated by the project will pay for an overhaul of the Myriad Gardens, which already has seen an upgrade of its water stage funded by Devon. Nichols said his landscape architects also will be charged with assisting the city and the Myriad Gardens Foundation on possible improvements.
"It is a beautiful park, but there are not a lot of people in it, Nichols said. "There are some design flaws where the city over time really didn't have the money to do what needed to be done.
Nichols said discussions are already under way, and a design workshop Saturday will invite the public to tell landscape architects what they would like to see added to the park. "Restaurants, ice skating rinks, dog parks ... they have a list of 30 or so different features you could put into that park to really make it work, Nichols said. "Our hope is, when you really see what an urban park can do, it will create that much more enthusiasm for the long-term plans the city has for the really big park in the Core to Shore area.