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City Council Approves Build Our Park request for city to collaborate in planning
January 2023
At its January 24 meeting, Harrisonburg City Council unanimously voted to approve a request presented by representatives of the Build Our Park board of directors to authorize city staff to collaborate with the group to plan for the public park in downtown Harrisonburg.
The move allows deliberate planning by the non-profit organization and the city to move forward. The results of this planning phase will include a detailed site plan and comprehensive solutions to funding, development, and long-term needs.
Build Our Park Featured nonprofit in 2022 Great Community Give
April 2022
The Great Community Give, an initiative of The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, is a sunrise to sunset giving day event that promotes charitable giving to support nonprofit organizations in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. The 2021 Great Community Give will take place on April 20, 2022 from 6:30am to 8:00pm. Early giving has begun.
Build Our Park is participating in this exciting day of giving. To make a tax-deductible contribution or become a fundraising champion, visit Build Our Park at the Great Community Give.
Harrisonburg downtown Master Planning underway
March 2021
The City of Harrisonburg and Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance (HDR) have launched Harrisonburg Downtown 2040, a community-driven plan for Downtown Harrisonburg.
The effort, in collaboration with a consultant team led by Interface Studio, is a community-driven process focused on what Downtown Harrisonburg should look like and how it could change in the short-and long-term.
Build Our Park recognizes Harrisonburg Downtown 2040 as the keystone to the years-long collaborative planning process that will formalize the ultimate scope of a park in the heart of Downtown.
Engagement opportunities will focus on what community members see as their priorities for making Downtown a more desirable destination, any additions they would love to see come to the area, and what things are important for them to see preserved. With Downtown already being beloved as the heart of The Friendly City, and known throughout the region as Virginia’s first Culinary District, now is the chance for residents to shape the next 20 years of growth, culture and design of Downtown.
“One of the things we are most proud of here in Harrisonburg is the incredible atmosphere and distinctiveness of our Downtown,” Harrisonburg Economic Development Director Brian Shull said. “That’s due to the hard work and dedication of our local businesses, and the creativeness and enthusiasm of our residents over the years. We are very excited to see where Downtown goes from here and what ideas our community brings to the table during Downtown 2040.”
“Downtown truly is the heart of our community, so we are excited about this opportunity to involve community members in imaging what Downtown could become in 20 years,” Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance Executive Director and Build Our Park Board Member Andrea Dono said. “With a community-driven vision and road map in hand, we will have a strategic plan and great ideas to help us achieve that vision together.”
All the information gathered will factor into Harrisonburg Downtown 2040, a master plan which will guide future development and projects in the area. The plan is expected to be completed in late 2021 and shared publicly before adoption in 2022. More information on the effort is available at www.harrisonburgva.gov/downtown-2040.
An Update about our downtown Park
december 2019
It has been an eventful year for the Build Our Park organization, and we are excited to share the following updates about the positive steps forward in the park planning process.
Throughout this year, representatives from Build Our Park’s (BOP) Board of Directors and Harrisonburg City staff members from multiple departments have met in collaboration to plan for the downtown park. Through these meetings we have begun to address details to chart a path toward making the park a reality.
Two important steps forward kicked off these collaborative meetings. The first was BOP submitting a PPEA proposal to initiate a public-private partnership for building the park. When BOP submitted the proposal, City Manager Eric Campbell, who was relatively new to community at the time, asked the question about where the park fits into the larger plan for Downtown Harrisonburg and if the proposed location and the proposed park were the best options for our community.
To answer these important questions, Mr. Campbell brought in expert analysts through the Urban Land Institute’s Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) program. During a two-day visit to Harrisonburg, the team assessed the park proposal and other ideas related to downtown’s development. At the conclusion of the visit, the team agreed that a park behind City Hall was feasible and proposed considering a larger footprint with additional amenities.
“City staff have been working with members of Build Our Park for several months on this initiative,” said Eric Campbell, Harrisonburg City Manager. “We look forward to applying recommendations from the ULI visit and data from the parking study to inform how the park fits into the downtown and including the park concept in the downtown master planning process that we will launch next year.”
The TAP team also conducted a quick assessment of parking in the Water Street Deck and Municipal Lot, as well as looking at traffic flow. The team indicated there could be additional parking through redesign or re-striping of parking in the Water Street Deck, but this was evaluated by City staff and found not to be viable. The City, in partnership with Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance, has initiated a downtown parking study. This study will result with strategies for managing parking holistically throughout all of downtown and will be completed by the end of this year.
The team also recommended exploring modifications along Main and Liberty Streets. This could make room for additions like on-street parking, improved sidewalks and dedicated bike lanes. The City is about to commission a study to look at the feasibility of potential lane reductions, to be completed by year’s end.
With results from both studies in hand, next year the city will then embark on a downtown master planning process, with an expected completion by the end of 2020. A downtown master plan will become the road map to our future.
We are energized knowing that a park will be included as a feature in downtown’s future development. The data that will be collected and the informed recommendations that we will receive through all three plans will pave the way for determining the ultimate size and configuration of a downtown park.
It has been a few years since we involved the community in identifying the key amenities for the park’s plan. We intend to revisit those conversations with new opportunities to ensure we still have our finger on the pulse of what is desired in a downtown park.
We thank our donors and supporters for continuing to back this project. We are excited that we have a plan and a timeline for determining the final park concept in partnership with the city government. We expect these steps will allow a favorable recommendation to be brought forward by city staff to City Council for approval. At that time, we will celebrate with you and reignite fundraising. We look forward to breaking ground on this community amenity that we have been dreaming about for years!
As Harrisonburg’s downtown continues its reemergence as a dynamic environment in which to live, work, eat and shop, the thoughts of many have turned to the need for more public green space at the City’s core. A diverse group of citizens joined together behind the goal of facilitating the creation of a public park in downtown Harrisonburg.
In 2018 the group, known today as Build Our Park and organized as the nonprofit Downtown Harrisonburg Park Corporation, submitted an “unsolicited proposal” under the City Procedures Regarding the Public-Private Educational Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002 (“PPEA”) to develop a privately funded public park on City property in the heart of downtown.
Build Our Park makes this conceptual-level Proposal with deep civic pride and with the goal of creating, largely with private donations, a flexible and innovative — and most of all, enjoyable — public space that adds to the economic, cultural and civic vitality of the City of Harrisonburg.
In 2017, City staff provided guidance to members of Build Our Park’s Board regarding the potential footprint of a downtown park, and urged the organization to develop a conceptual plan for the facility in partnership with key city staff members. Build Our Park and City staff have maintained a strong dialogue regarding the best practical and legal vehicle to facilitate the development by a civic nonprofit organization, using specifically donated private monies, of a privately funded park on City-owned land. Recently, staff suggested to the organization that the PPEA approach would be appropriate for this purpose.
Build Our Park, with its uniquely qualified and motivated Board of Directors and volunteer force, stands ready to continue their fundraising and planning efforts arm-in-arm with the City of Harrisonburg. As the organization that has been committed to the furtherance of the downtown park initiative for five (5) years, we hope that in less than one year’s time elements of a beautiful multi-use park will begin emerging in downtown Harrisonburg.
PARK DESIGN
Conceptual designs for our downtown park have been planned by
the Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance Design Committee.
NEWS
On March 27, 2018 Harrisonburg City Council agreed to accept the Build Our Park Public-Private Education and Infrastructure Act (PPEA) proposal for further consideration, setting into motion the formal process that could define the structure for Build Our Park to work in partnership with the City to build a downtown park.
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