Urban Design Ideas

• Reuse sidewalk brick in Civic Park. Buffalo (street) brick might be available from SMSU (held from Plaster Project), and from City when they replace sidewalks throughout the older sections of town. Urban District Alliance/Public Square pulled Buffalo brick.
• Incorporate into the Jordan Valley aspect of the Civic Park, some of the ideas proposed in the park design of the beautification of Jordan Valley as proposed July 14, 1932. It would serve as a tribute to those in the past who first proposed a beautification project for Jordan Creek.
• Civic Park should reflect the great urban design efforts of a century ago.
• The success of Civic Park will depend on how well the edges of the park are planned and developed. The area around the park will need to be planned just as carefully as the park itself.
• Civic Park and the new aquarium (Fish and Wildlife Museum at Bass Pro Shops) together can play a huge role in redefining Springfield for its own citizens and their visitors. What will be critical is how these two elements link (physically, symbolically, programmatically, etc.) to other venues of civic life.
• Discourage suburban-style development.
• Encourage residential development.
• Enormous development and redevelopment opportunities for surrounding areas, but will require just as enormous public will to see them through.
• Consider connecting Civic Park with the Convention Center and the Aquarium that's for visitors and for residents.
• Think of Civic Park as a focus for civic and recreational life.
• Let tourism follow, not lead Civic Park.
• "Think different"community cards, remote parking, etc.
• There should be a strong focus on enhancement and encouragement of private sector redevelopment
• Phase 1 should include the scrap iron/metal yard - otherwise you will have an eyesore in a significant area of the park until Phase 2 begins.
• Future phases should go all the way west to Kansas Expressway, instead of stopping a block short.
• Specific Discovery Center needs in order to facilitate large "touring" groups and educational classes that the park could accommodate:
• A covered pavilion that could hold up to 200 people
• Street vendors providing food and drinks, or several restaurants in a concentrated area, providing quick and affordable food.
• Public phones and restrooms
• Walkways above or below busy streets, to safely get large groups of children to the park
• Make sure the park is on the level of the streets that constitute its margins. Don't let the park be above or below grade. Don't let anyone surround the park with walls (solid or made of foliage). Make sure there's good visibility between the park and the area around it; it's from the street that the park will get its vitality, its life. Absolutely no fences which are often placed there in the interest of security. Walls and fences create danger; they don't prevent it. Try to make sure the park is not backed up against a border - a place of non-activity (rail tracks, freeway, empty lots). The surrounding zones are absolutely crucial. Introduce many, many places to sit - portable, comfortable chairs if at all possible.
• Prohibit blank walls on buildings; scale down massive muscular structures to relate to a human-scale, inviting and comfortable for pedestrians
• There should be no provisions for automobiles, i.e., no parking lots within the Park.
• There should be a "fair weather" refreshment center, such items as hot dogs and lemonade.
• Commercial area to encourage shopping. In a "square style" of an open cafe in the center and shops surrounding it. The open air feeling would blend into the environmental focus of the area.
• Support business development in and adjacent to park that is compatible with park uses and will help to attract visitors and make it truly a destination.
• Suggest enhancement of the Benton / Grant bridges to better accommodate pedestrians (both sides) and give opportunities to view the park area. Would also encourage pedestrian/bicycle movements across which would link the Drury area.
• Suggest reviewing carefully use of existing rails. Could some be maintained and linked perhaps to other areas of town such as airport? The existing SMSU transportation system could also be linked using bike baths and the Fisk shuttle buses.
• The park should create an element of excitement during the daylight hours as well as at night.
• The park should include areas for commercial activity immediately adjacent or across the street from the park area itself. Visitors to the park need to be able to park their cars and walk to the park activities, then on to restaurants, shopping and other activities without returning to their cars.
• Park should be friendly, with emphasis placed on safety and security in the planning. This will be best accomplished by placing major attractions throughout the park, not just concentrating them in one section.
• We would like to see the roads adjacent to the park developed in a complementary and attractive manner.
• Make pedestrian access into the park from areas on the other side of busy, commercial streets safe, possibly by using "cross-over" techniques.
• While foot and bicycle traffic is anticipated, there will be many who would not find it convenient to travel from one end of the park to the other in this manner. It would seem reasonable to have affordable, unique if possible, means of touring the park making all aspects of it accessible.
• Design areas of the park to have distinct personalities so that it is all not just one 'song'. This would increase the likelihood that the park will have different characteristics that will appeal to a broader range of visitors. It will also encourage greater movement through the park as people are rewarded by discovery.