Construction on a pocket park to be located on the front lawn of Indianola Presbyterian Church at 1970 Waldeck Ave. will begin in May. Credit: Emma Bush | Lantern Reporter
What started as a survey to better understand the needs of University District residents transformed — in part — to plans for a new green space by the Indianola Presbyterian Church.
The pocket park, which will be located on the front lawn of 1970 Waldeck Ave., was developed in hopes of creating more organic ways to engage with others in the community. Nora Gerber, executive director of the University District Organization, spearheaded the effort after finding a want for these spaces in their “be/well” initiative.
A pocket park is a small outdoor space usually no more than a fourth of an acre, most often located in urban areas where there are few places for people to gather, relax or enjoy the outdoors according to the National Recreation and Park Association. It is currently being designed and construction will begin in May.
“We want to build something that the community is going to use,” Gerber said. “We want people to feel ownership and to be part of this in every step of the way.”
The project, funded by the $15,000 Neighborhood Design Center’s 614 Beautiful grant, is a collaboration with the church. Looking to reflect the 13 unique neighborhoods of the university district, Gerber said “community engagement sessions” are a key component of the design process for the park.
“There were four open community sessions, one with the church congregation and then one with the surrounding neighbors, one of which was with the congregation itself since they are the landowners, and they’d be seeing it at least weekly,” Gerber said.
Gerber said through these sessions, ideas for park features including flowers and pollinator gardens were discussed.
“People also talked a lot about refuge, like wanting a park to be a break from the busy world or the busy city,” Gerber said.
Looking specifically to engage with students, Gerber said the project includes neighbors such as the Delta Kappa Epsilon and Alpha Tau Omega chapter houses.
“We wanted the young fraternity men to also be part of this process as they are direct neighbors and to also tell us what they would want to see in a park because potentially, they would be one of the main users because of their proximity,” Gerber said.
So far, Gerber said they have completed all of the data analysis and visions needed for the park. This included taking feedback through several workshops and working with a local artist, Adam Hernandez, who will be creating a sculpture that represents “what community is or what community means in the University District.”
Hernandez is a local Columbus artist well known for his murals and street art, which exhibits “hieroglyphic-inspired work” according to his website.
“We have worked together in the past, and when we were gearing up to apply for this grant, he contacted me and he was talking about wanting to explore sculptures,” Gerber said. “We started talking about this idea about how we could incorporate public art and the sculpture essence into the park.”
According to 614 Beautiful’s website, the space will also have benches, water fountains, lighting and art.
The construction of the project will include community members, Gerber said.
“When we start building it out, we will definitely have a call for volunteers that want to help build and dig,” Gerber said.
