PIVOT Architecture's SIT (im.a.bench) parklet located on Olive Street between Broadway and 10th Avenue
I finally found the time this
weekend to check out the completed winners of the Eugene Parklet Competition.
As I reported upon the announcement
of the selected entrants, the competition succeeded in drawing attention to
downtown Eugene’s ongoing resurgence and also to the outsized power of modest
urban interventions designed to make parts of the city more lively or
enjoyable. Step-by-step and piece-by-piece, the parklet competition and similar
initiatives (such as the City of Eugene’s “lighter, quicker, and cheaper” projects this summer) have drawn
welcome attention to temporary efforts that hint at the promise of more
permanent and likewise transformative changes to our public space.
I’m sure each of the four
parklets shone best through their debut as part of the July 30 Downtown Sunday
Streets event, and the following week as featured destinations for the August 5
First Friday Art Walk. Alas, during my quick stroll-by I found all to be
unoccupied, despite plenty of passersby on a busy Saturday afternoon. They
appeared forlorn and all too quickly forsaken.
Perhaps it was simply a matter of poor timing on my part. By design, their appeal was preordained to be as fleeting and ephemeral as the beauty of the cherry blossom. The parklets are not permanent. Regardless, a little bit of TLC (periodic cleaning, etc.) might extend their attractiveness. The targeted date for their deconstruction is this October, so plenty of time remains to warrant their continued upkeep.
Perhaps it was simply a matter of poor timing on my part. By design, their appeal was preordained to be as fleeting and ephemeral as the beauty of the cherry blossom. The parklets are not permanent. Regardless, a little bit of TLC (periodic cleaning, etc.) might extend their attractiveness. The targeted date for their deconstruction is this October, so plenty of time remains to warrant their continued upkeep.
Vivid Summer parklet located on Broadway in front of the Bijou Theater; design by Lindsey Deaton and Chistopher Becker
Cameron McCarthy's pinYOUgene parklet, also on Broadway.
Framing Parklet, by Propel Studio, on Broadway in front of Townshend's Tea.
Despite my disappointment in not
finding the parklets in use, there’s no doubt in my mind they fulfilled the
intention of the competition’s organizers, who envisioned the parklets as part
of a series of short-term, low-cost, and highly visible projects intended to
catalyze more permanent and profound changes in our city’s core. The goals are
to build public acceptance of a deliberate, phased approach to instigating
change, and to enhance the perception of downtown Eugene as a
pedestrian-friendly and an amenity-rich precinct. The challenge now will be for
the City of Eugene to build upon and sustain the momentum generated by the parklets
competition. Ideally, this momentum will be sustained both from the top down (through
government leadership) and the bottom up (as citizens endorse the most desirable
of these changes). Ultimately, downtown will thrive as more permanent human-scaled
improvements appear incrementally with increasing frequency.
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