The placemaking initiative is a continuation of the Downtown Exploratory Committee’s recommendations and the City’s efforts to help facilitate a vibrant downtown.
In 2018, the City partnered with Cuningham Group to develop a placemaking strategy to enhance public spaces in and near the downtown, including Main Street Plaza and Hamilton Park. The placemaking strategy is available below in three sections: Introduction, Recommendations and Implementation.
What is Placemaking?
The Project for Public Spaces defines placemaking as:
Placemaking inspires people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of every community. Strengthening the connection between people and the places they share, placemaking refers to a collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm in order to maximize shared value. More than just promoting better urban design, placemaking facilitates creative patterns of use, paying particular attention to the physical, cultural, and social identities that define a place and support its ongoing evolution.
In essence, people like to be where they feel comfortable. Those spaces tend to be places where they see other people engaging in joyful activities. It takes good design, management and programming in order to make a good space into a great place.
Placemaking Activities
The City has undertaken a number of activities in Hamilton Park in order to help highlight this great community asset. Activities include Hamilton Park Family Day (September 2018); Winterfest (January 2019 & 2020); Fondy Rocks Hamilton Park (May 2019) and Hamilton Park Under the Stars Movie Night (August 2019). Watch for more activities coming to Hamilton Park! In 2020, the City will be looking at possible improvements to Main Street Plaza to help facilitate more activities and use of that wonderful space.
Placemaking Strategy
*All photos courtesy of Joellyn Dahlin
