OPINION: The City of Redmond held an Open Forum last night for the public and staff to hear presentations from five Downtown Park consultant candidates. I and my wife listened to the first three consultants and Q&A which lasted two hours. About a third of the audience appeared to be filled with staff and consultants. Extra seats had to be brought into City Hall.
All presentations were professional and helpful but the last consultant called "Land Morphology" appeared to be the most engaging and enthusiastic about Redmond and dug the deepest for "who we are." They seemed to have a good grasp of the surrounding downtown parks, Heron Rookery, our aquifer, and the rich cultures within Redmond. They handed out small models of the park showing two sheltered structures comparing this idea to the Chihuly Museum by the Space Needle. Having a well lit, warm place to gather seems important in our climate. Art and Culture is destined to be a big part of the Downtown Park...and probably rain gardens. History was brought up a lot, too and Land Morphology once included an archeological dig in one of their parks. You never know what could turn up during the development of the park considering the Indian artifacts found around Lower Bear Creek.
All three consultants had to deal with questions about dogs and pets. I don't think any of them recommended a dog running area. Public process and wonkish diagrams were emphasized by the last two consultants -- I'm sure much to the happiness of the attending staff. Though public process can be boring at times it tries to capture the broader public and design the framework for launching the park. We got to critique each consultant with "scorecards."
I wish now I had stayed to listen to the last two consultants, but two hours was plenty for me and you can go to www.redmond.gov to watch all five presentations. If you attended, the Mayor put on a good show with food before-hand and some fascinating art-musician-dancers performing during breaks for the cameras and audience.
Bob Yoder
All presentations were professional and helpful but the last consultant called "Land Morphology" appeared to be the most engaging and enthusiastic about Redmond and dug the deepest for "who we are." They seemed to have a good grasp of the surrounding downtown parks, Heron Rookery, our aquifer, and the rich cultures within Redmond. They handed out small models of the park showing two sheltered structures comparing this idea to the Chihuly Museum by the Space Needle. Having a well lit, warm place to gather seems important in our climate. Art and Culture is destined to be a big part of the Downtown Park...and probably rain gardens. History was brought up a lot, too and Land Morphology once included an archeological dig in one of their parks. You never know what could turn up during the development of the park considering the Indian artifacts found around Lower Bear Creek.
All three consultants had to deal with questions about dogs and pets. I don't think any of them recommended a dog running area. Public process and wonkish diagrams were emphasized by the last two consultants -- I'm sure much to the happiness of the attending staff. Though public process can be boring at times it tries to capture the broader public and design the framework for launching the park. We got to critique each consultant with "scorecards."
I wish now I had stayed to listen to the last two consultants, but two hours was plenty for me and you can go to www.redmond.gov to watch all five presentations. If you attended, the Mayor put on a good show with food before-hand and some fascinating art-musician-dancers performing during breaks for the cameras and audience.
Bob Yoder
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