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Health & Fitness

The Future of Theodore Wirth Park is on the Table

Design Experts Are Seeking Your Input For Theodore Wirth Park.

After a summer of little or no Wirth Park Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) activity, plenty of tornado clean up, and some needless acrimony over the future of the par-3 golf course, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) planning department decided in August to conduct a design charette in the hopes of confirming public trust as well as generating a master plan for the future of  

A 'charette' or 'charrette' (as defined by Wikipedia) is a collaborative session in which a group of designers drafts a solution to a design problem.  That's what's supposed to happen for Wirth Park, and it all begins on the evening of November 2 at the Wirth Chalet at 6 p.m

It requires as much community input as possible in order to be truly successful.  Anyone who has an interest in Wirth Park should plan to attend the three days of meetings and open houses and give voice to their views.

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Who will be the designers on the charette?  Steve Durrant (Alta Group, Portland), Piortr Bednarski (Nordic Ski Professional, Minneapolis), Jeff Lee, (Barr Engineering, Minneapolis), Jeff Zimmerman (Design Workshop, Denver), Kari Haug (Haug, Minnesota), Bill Baxley (Leo A Daly, Minneapolis), Charlene Roise (Hess Roise, Minneapolis), Eva Terrell (Two Pines Resource Group, Schafer, Minnesota), Larry Wacker and Dave Wanberg (Sanders Wacker Bergly, St. Paul), and Andrea Weber, Bruce Chamberlain, Cliff Swenson and Jennifer Ringold (MPRB).  You now know as much as I about the charette. 

Events will culminate on the evening of November 8 with another meeting of the CAC.  CAC recommendations for the park's master plan will be made at this time.  You are encouraged to attend and participate in this meeting as well. 

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I have mixed feelings about the necessity of this charette and whether it will be successful.  As we all know, Wirth Park is very large and varied, and there are many interests (sometimes competing) in the park.  I've been working on the CAC for nearly two years, and have witnessed slow, but steady progress towards consensus on park improvements, such as the new path and boardwalk that now circumnavigate Wirth Lake. 

Three days for mostly outside designers to develop a master plan for the entire park seems ..... ambitious.  And only two weeks notice to the public for an event of this scale seems inadequate.  In the end however, the most important thing is that the interested public -- ALL the interested public -- has an opportunity to be heard and genuinely considered about their park. 

This is your opportunity.  The future of Theodore Wirth Park is literally on the table.  Join me in November or contact me before then with your views, and let's get it right.  

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