Tag: charlottesville parks & recreation

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News

Charlottesville seeks public input on parks’ plan

Participants at the July 29 input session advocated for the reinvigoration of Market Street Park as a gathering space. Staff photo.

The Charlottesville Department of Parks & Recreation is currently gathering community feedback and input as it develops a master plan for the future of the city’s public spaces. As part of the master plan—which will guide the department for at least the next 10 years—the city is examining current and emerging community needs through a closer look at four parks: Court Square Park, Market Street Park, Tonsler Park, and Washington Park.

Since last November, the city has been collecting public comment through consultant groups Kimley-Horn and PROS Consulting. Online engagement with the project has been promising, with 973 surveys completed on the project website and 545 comments made through the interactive map feature as of July 29.

Each park-specific survey asks respondents to share how often they visit the park and their thoughts on the park’s cleanliness, safety, and potential amenities. Specific features mentioned in the form include food carts, art exhibits, vendors, public art, historic markers and displays, public games, water features, and native plants. There is also a space for more in-depth comment on both the surveys and the map feature.

According to Will Bassett, Parks & Rec business manager and one of the project managers for the master plan, the most filled-out park-specific survey so far is for Booker T. Washington Park, with 121 submissions.

While the city and consultants anticipated significant public engagement at city council’s input session on Market Street Park and Court Square Park on July 15, extremely low turnout prompted a second event to be held at CitySpace on July 29. The parks are the former sites of the Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson statues, respectively, and gathered national attention during A12. Both sites were originally segregated.

Andrea Douglas, executive director of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, was the only participant in the city council session who commented on the parks, updating council on the Swords Into Plowshares project. (Another woman mistakenly attended believing the comment session was for Parks & Rec more broadly, asking for shades for the pickleball courts at Carver and Keys recreation centers.)

Despite the lack of public participation at the council meeting, councilors gave their thoughts on the parks and the broader master plan.

“Two paths for these two parks [Market Street Park and Court Square Park]: One is these could be parks that are pretty standard and could be [parks] that [exist] in most any city in the country. Or two, they could be defining public spaces that engage thoughtfully with local history,” said Councilor Michael Payne.

“Both of these parks have a lot of pain associated with them,” said Vice Mayor Brian Pinkston. “How we honor that history and how we honor the events of a few years ago and do so in a way that’s honest and authentic to who Charlottesville is—particularly since there will be a lot of other people who want to write narratives about what happened in those parks—I think it’s going to be really important.”

The meeting about Market Street Park and Court Square Park on July 29 garnered more participants than that on July 15, but attendance of the in-person input session was still sparse. Six constituents were in attendance, with one member of the Parks & Rec advisory board also speaking in his capacity as a city resident.

Attendees largely agreed that the master plan should aim to bring people together in the parks, though there were some differing opinions on what design choices best facilitate gatherings. Topics of discussion included the history of the parks, safety improvements, tree cover, accessibility, and potential community engagement.

Frank Bechter, a local musician, floated the idea of Market Street Park as a living monument, focusing on the potential community engagement brought through plantings and rotating events. “Various kinds of plants, flowers—all kinds of people are interested in that and are gardeners,” he said. “There could be community engagement between the city and interested lovers of green.”

Alex Joyner, pastor at Charlottesville First United Methodist, spoke about acknowledging the parks’ histories and driving engagement in the spaces. “I think some kind of historical recognition is probably good,” he said. “I’d just like to see events that bring the community together happen in that space.”

“I’m going to take issue with ‘that park has a lot of history,’” said Genevieve Keller, a current member of Charlottesville’s Historic Resource Committee. “I’d say that park only has a recent history. The most significant thing that ever happened at that park happened in 2017 and before that, it was a very passive park … I mean, [the Lee statue] was there, people knew, and people reacted to it in their own ways. … It really was a successful event space.”

“I’m sure there were people who did not feel welcome there for a variety of reasons, but it really did serve as that kind of informal community gathering place,” said Keller.

Public surveys for the Parks & Rec master plan are open until August 25. For more information about the project or to participate in the survey, visit charlottesville.gov/1742/Parks-Recreation.

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Coronavirus News

In brief: Masked melons, summertime sadness, and more

Cooling off in the city’s splash gardens is a thing of the past, thanks to a recent announcement that all Charlottesville pools and spraygrounds will be closed this summer. PC: Ron Paris

Goodbye, summer

Monday is Memorial Day, the traditional start to summer, but this year, much of the city’s outdoor recreation space will be off limits. Last week, Charlottesville Parks & Recreation closed all city pools and spraygrounds for the summer, and canceled camps. In addition, other outdoor facilities, including basketball and tennis courts, picnic shelters, and the Sugar Hollow Reservoir, will remain shuttered until further notice. In Albemarle County, all swimming lakes will be closed, along with playgrounds and ball fields.

“Our decision at this point is based on public safety and health, and our staff and keeping our staff safe,” says Todd Brown, Charlottesville Parks & Rec’s interim director. Where parks are open, both the city and county will employ monitors to ensure visitors are social distancing.

Under Phase One of Governor Northam’s reopening plan, which began May 15, pools are allowed to open for lap swimming, and private facilities like ACAC and Fry’s Spring have done so. But city and county officials say the decision to keep public pools closed has to do with staffing.

“We don’t have a year-round staff for lifeguarding, and so it’s really difficult to recruit seasonal lifeguards when we don’t know when they would be able to start work,” says Emily Kilroy, the director of communications and public engagement for Albemarle County. Brown noted that the city did not start training lifeguards in March, as it usually does, and that carried weight in the decision.

“With things being delayed in terms of the different phases…that uncertainty, it goes against being able to plan on how to open and operate pools so that you’re keeping people safe,” says Brown.

Amy Smith, assistant director of the county’s Parks & Recreation department, says “park ambassadors” will be stationed at the county’s swimming lakes this summer, to make sure no children make their way into the water. But how to keep kids with no other options for cooling off away from other, unguarded bodies of water—like the Rivanna River—is less clear.

“We know that there is going to be a reaction to this action, and that could also cause negative impacts elsewhere,” says Brown. “And we are concerned about that, too.”

______________________

Quote of the Week

“I am hopeful that our students will be back in the classroom this fall.”

—Governor Ralph Northam, at a press conference on Monday. (So are we, Ralph. So are we.)

______________________ 

In brief

Sour grapes

Listening to the President these days, you’d think the pandemic is over. But don’t tell that to Charlottesville’s Trump Winery, which soft-opened this week behind a set of complicated social-distancing requirements. While Trump has famously declined to wear a mask in public, they’re mandatory for servers at his winery, and recommended for guests.

Budget bristles

City budget officials have their work cut out for them, as staff projects a $5.4 million loss in revenue this year. That’s made some in City Hall grumpy: This week, The Daily Progress wrote a story about the city-county revenue sharing agreement, but City Manager Tarron Richardson (whose job is to talk about the budget) didn’t like the coverage, and said at Monday’s council meeting that he was “too upset to talk about it right now.”   

Seedy suspects

On the evening of May 6, two people walked into a Louisa Sheetz wearing unusual face masks: hollowed-out watermelons with holes cut out for their eyes. According to the Louisa Police Department, the pair committed larceny, though it’s unclear exactly what they took. Police arrested one of the suspects—20-year-old Justin Rogers—on May 16, and charged him with wearing a mask in public while committing larceny, underage possession of alcohol, and petit larceny of alcohol. The second melonhead is still on the loose.

Major makeover

After many years of residents protesting against its dilapidated conditions, Crescent Halls will undergo major renovations starting this fall—but not without a huge price tag. At a May 18 meeting, the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority announced that the project—which also includes the redevelopment and construction of new units on South First Street—would cost $26.94 million for construction, about $4.3 million more than last year’s estimates. To pay the bill, CRHA plans to secure additional funding from the Virginia Housing Development Authority, as well as private donors.

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Magazines Unbound

Urban wilderness: Jill Trischman-Marks brings her love of nature to McIntire Botanical Garden

The new and first appointed executive director of the McIntire Botanical Garden will lead the realization of a park designed by renowned landscape architect Mikyoung Kim. Photo: Mikyoung Kim Design

Jill Trischman-Marks bears the title executive director in her new role at McIntire Botanical Garden, but
she calls herself its chief cheerleader. Her enthusiasm for the outdoors and all things wild (and some cultivated) is so abundant that the self-proclaimed title fits. As the first person to head up the nonprofit civic effort, Trischman-Marks, a landscape architect, brings decades of design and horticultural experience to the job.

And what a job it is. Trischman-Marks will guide the realization of an eight-and-a-half acre design by Boston- based landscape architect Mikyoung Kim, whose projects also include the Chicago Botanic Garden. Kim is quite a catch. A recipient of the 2018 Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Design Award and the American Society of Landscape Architects Design Medal, her firm was named by Fast Company this year as one of the world’s most innovative businesses. Working in tandem with Charlottesville’s Waterstreet Design, Kim will transform the McIntire Park parcel into a showcase of the Piedmont landscape—and what Trischman-Marks believes will be central Virginia’s premier botanical garden.

Jill Trischman-Marks holds a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from the UVA School of Architecture and has worked in the field—and in her own garden—for 30 years. Photo: Virginia Hamrick

The garden plans have been in the works since 2015, and it’s going to be a challenge for Trischman-Marks to bring them to life. It helps that a world-class design team is in place, and that the new executive director is charging ahead with great energy. She’s definitely going to need it as she pushes to secure $600,000 to complete the design phase and then see the project through to completion.

Trischman-Marks has no shortage of confidence that she will succeed, and introduce local residents and visitors alike to a space that will bring them closer to nature just a short jaunt from downtown Charlottesville.

Unbound: As a longtime resident of Charlottesville, what makes you most excited about the plans for McIntire Botanical Garden?

Trischman-Marks: The garden will be a free and accessible destination. It will be a community nest of sorts, a nurturing, safe space where visitors can learn, relax, and celebrate the natural beauty of the Piedmont with Virginia’s flora as the background.

Free and accessible—let’s talk more about that.

The “free” aspect is a given with the space we’re in, as a part of McIntire Park and this project being in partnership with the City of Charlottesville. As a free community asset, it will become more relevant, vital, and beloved—a space for the whole community to grow. Children will grow up here, become parents one day, and remember their own childhood memories and come back. Generations will help maintain the garden.

It’s clear that it will take some time to build the landscape. What’s going on at the garden now?

As a part of McIntire Park, the space is open for people to enjoy. It’s not a curated garden yet—it’s in process. We’ve already cleared nearly four acres of invasive plants. The best way to maximize an experience in the landscape now is to go when a garden representative is there during our butterfly, bird, and tree walks.

What’s next?

We just completed the schematic phase for the future site and the next phase will be design development, where we think about things like drainage and walls for deer protection. We’re holding a community night on October 10 at City Space from 5:30-7:30pm to share new schematics and garden updates. Visioning walks will follow in the spring.

We know you’re passionate about the outdoors. Can you speak about the importance of a garden vs. native plants and habitat?

A botanical garden is a curated garden, where the best of what’s available is pulled out for display as a community resource. The celebration of the Piedmont region is our key goal. We want a design that speaks to plant communities as opposed to individual species of plants, where everything is working together as a habitat for pollinators and to improve air quality.

Climate change is obviously a pressing issue. What’s your perspective on how it influences the botanical garden?

I’ve spent the past 30 years not just as a landscape architect, but also in my own garden, and it has affected my own thinking every single day. I have weeds in my garden I’ve never seen before. All the rules are being broken, growing zones and temperatures are changing. Our team is always thinking about that and what it means.

Which central Virginia flora are you most interested in highlighting in the space, and why?

In my own garden and most of the gardens I’ve dealt with  in the past, there’s enormous deer pressure. Since the garden will be protected by deer fencing, plants will be given the opportunity to grow and thrive. Old species will be coming back, and we’ll have a chance to see our understory friends again.

McIntire Botanical Garden has been a dream of many in the community for a long time. Can you speak to that?

We’re so fortunate that years ago people like Albemarle County resident Helen Flamini advocated for a botanical garden in Charlottesville, and that the city’s Parks and Recreation department had the foresight to think of McIntire Botanical Garden. Without them, there would be no garden. We have a talented and committed board of directors and hard-working volunteer corps who are helping to make this signature community asset a reality.

At a glance:

Jill Trischman-Marks

Born: Connecticut

Years in  Charlottesville: 30

Education: 1992 Master of Landscape Architecture, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia; 1981 Bachelor of Science, Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont

Profession: Started her landscape architecture firm in 2001; now MBG executive director

Spouse: William (Bill) Marks, owner of Marks Fine Woodworking

Children: Elizabeth, 24

Pets: Two dogs, Crockett and Inca, plus “whatever Service Dog of Virginia puppy is being fostered
at our home at any given time.”

Pet-peeves: “My husband and I are cyclists, and it always gets me when we take a long bike ride on a beautiful day and don’t see anyone else outside.”

Categories
Living

LIVING Picks: Week of March 21-27

Charlottesville Parks & Recreation hosts this eggs-travagant Easter egg hunt for children ages 1-3, 4-7 and 8-12. Bring your own baskets. Free, 10am. Charlottesville High School, 1400 Melbourne Rd.

Food & Drink
Vegan cooking class
Thursday, March 22

Ingrid Berger leads this class on utilizing bright and fresh flavors to welcome in the new season. Drinks included. $45, 6-7:30pm. The Happy Cook, Barracks Road Shopping Center. 977-2665.

Health & Wellness
Charlottesville Ten Miler
Saturday, March 24

This 10-mile run through Charlottesville (the area’s oldest footrace) raises funds for local charities, including this year’s primary beneficiary: the Building Goodness Foundation. $65, 7:15am. Starts on Massie Road, near JPJ. cvilletenmiler.com

Nonprofit
The Cooking Gene talk
Friday, March 23

As part of Virginia Festival of the Book, Michael W. Twitty, author of The Cooking Gene, will discuss his journey to discover more about his Southern food heritage. Free (RSVP in advance), 6-7:30pm. UVA Ruth Caplin Theatre, 109 Culbreth Rd. vabook.org

Family
Easter egg hunt
March 24, Saturday

Charlottesville Parks & Recreation hosts this eggs-travagant Easter egg hunt for children ages 1-3, 4-7 and 8-12. Bring your own baskets. Free, 10am. Charlottesville High School, 1400 Melbourne Rd. 970-3260.

Categories
News

Running at Ragged? Public weighs in during third meeting

Ragged Mountain’s current prohibition against pets is pretty widely ignored, and some owners see the natural area as a place to leave their dogs’ feces. Staff photo

On a pleasantly wet Wednesday evening in late April, 60-odd people congregated at Trinity Presbyterian Church for the third public meeting about the Ragged Mountain Natural Area and its future. One of the many issues to be decided is who gets to use the park, now restricted to hikers and fishermen. Will mountain bikers, runners, horses and/or dogs get to join in the fun?

The public feedback meeting was called a map session with table exercises. Eight tables filled with maps and other research materials were used to garner opinion and gather information about whether Ragged Mountain would remain a natural area or become a recreational area.

Chris Gensic of Charlottesville Parks & Recreation explained that “if a consensus was reached tonight,” it would be passed on to the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board and City Council for approval.

The first speaker of the night was Peter Krebs, a master’s candidate at UVA School of Architecture. Krebs had compiled a comprehensive fact sheet of other similar municipalities and what they had done with reservoirs.

Roanoke and Lynchburg stood out as comparable, although Krebs explained there is nothing exactly like Ragged Mountain. According to a handout, “Other cities’ actions are not a decision factor, only to inform land use expectations.”

Devin Floyd with Charlottesville’s Center for Urban Habitats said he and an army of volunteers have mapped and documented all flora and fauna at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir. He has counted more than 300 different species, including 53 tree species, 19 ferns, six orchids and 147 birds. He has teams assigned to track mammals as well as butterflies, aquatics and non-native exotics.

“It’s quite a treasure,” he said.

The proposed trail map has a little more than seven miles for walking and a three-mile stretch wide enough for a car. Floyd’s map shows areas of ecological sensitivity, native habitats, evidence of previous land use and exotic flora not native to this region. Although eradication of non-native species is a current hot-button issue, it was not discussed at this meeting.

When the floor was opened to questions, one attendee asked, “What actually constitutes a natural area?” This prompted several other audience members to suggest that with all the diversity, maybe trails should not be carved out. Several participants admitted to not feeling qualified to make decisions regarding the natural area, and asked for leadership from their elected officials, with one woman stating, “This is an exercise in futility.”

Gensic then took control and suggested everyone put these concerns on paper that he would, in turn, deliver to City Council. In kindergarten style, starting with the first row, he had everyone say a number from one to eight so the tables would have a greater diversity. As people obliged and then settled down to their task, the future of Ragged Mountain Natural Area remained undecided.

Another public meeting will be held May 24, and the issue will go to the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board in June, which will have 30 days of public comment before it makes a decision. City Council could vote in September on whether Ragged Mountain remains a natural area or becomes a recreational space.