Center City Park progress

Our briefing session update on the Center City Park Tuesday morning was quite informative and well worth the time spent on it. Susan Schwartz and Priscilla Taylor of Action Greensboro and park architect Bob Uhlig presented information on planning, various features of the park, and maintenance issues. Deputy City Manager Mitch Johnson reviewed the streetscape plans and discussed the street light designs. By the time the project is completed, Action Greensboro will have spent $12.5 million in PRIVATE money to purchase and construct the park. That total includes a $500,000 endowment fund that should generate at least $25,000 a year to pay for ongoing maintenance and upgrades to the park.

The intent is for the park to remain in private ownership that will contract with an experienced private group - Grassroots Productions - to be in charge of programming the park. The Center City Park Conservancy will be formed to manage the park and conduct fundraising activities for it. Action Greensboro wants the city to enter into a partnership with them for maintenance of the park, similar to the city's current relationship with Greensboro Beautiful.

The design and various features of the park are a result of 45 workshops where members of the public shared what they wanted included in the park. There's something for everyone - shaded nooks, spaces for large gatherings, a performance pavilion, interesting art and sculpture, and an extensive water feature that includes a fountain and water stairs that can be programmed for a variety of patterns. The park will be well lit with attractive lighting fixtures. The whole area will compliment and blend well with its surroundings, particularly the Cultural Arts Center. I was impressed and very pleased with the plans and drawings we saw.

The surrounding streetscape features trees in raised planting beds that will offer seating opportunities and sidewalks constructed of brick and pavers. (I had some concerns when I first heard this but am now more comfortable with the concept.) The plan now calls for the streetlights outside the park to be compatible with existing street lights in the downtown area - right now there are three different styles in various locations.

Action Greensboro has hired a consulting firm to produce accurate projections of the maintenance costs. That study will be complete by the end of July so no firm figures were available. A preliminary "guess-timate" is around $400,000 per year with $50,000 of that being for the operation and maintenance of the water feature, mainly the electricity needed to operate all the water pumps. (For comparison, the city spends about $425,000 a year to maintain Bicentennial Park and $300,000 a year for the Arboretum.) It was noted that with all the nightlife in downtown Greensboro, this park is likely to be used 24 hours a day as opposed to other city parks that close at sunset.

Discussion centered around whether the city should contribute "in-kind services" such as planting, mowing, emptying the trash, etc. through our Parks and Recreation Department or contribute a specific amount of money for maintenance each year. Ed Kitchen and Mitchell Johnson noted that it would cost us either way, since additional Parks and Recreation personnel would likely have to be hired to cover these additional duties. I stated that while I was fine with the city providing "normal" planting and mowing services, I am very much opposed to the city assuming any maintenance responsibilities for the water feature nor should the city commit to any "blank checks" for future maintenance costs.

In the end, no firm decisions or commitments were made, but we instructed city staff to work with Action Greensboro to develop a 5-year maintenance plan and associated costs to present to city council within the next 60 days. In the interim, we gave the "green light" to allow construction to begin on the park immediately to take advantage of the summer construction and fall planting seasons so that the park can be operational by next spring or summer.