Phoenix Park Opens in Downtown Lexington
Yesterday, Lexington cut the ribbon on its newest park in the heart of downtown, Phoenix Park. It was an especially rewarding moment for me because it was the first public space project that CivicLex helped gather community input for.
Almost 4 years ago, we were approached to be part of a team working to redesign the park. Of course, we had hosted hundreds of community events before, gathered and processed community input, etc., but this was the first time that we were approached about working on a discrete project — and the first one we got paid to work on.
Working on the project was a huge learning experience for us — balancing stakeholder input and public input, navigating the complex legacies of the space, including its importance to the city's police and fire unions, trying to figure out how the park could better serve vulnerable communities, and trying to make it a place that everyone feels welcome. It's hard work!
We've since gone on to build a whole revenue stream for CivicLex around this type of work. It's still challenging, and we're still learning, but it's worth it, because we can help bring the perspectives of our neighbors into incredibly important decisions.
The final design is amazing and includes so many community priorities that came from our engagement — downtown's first public (self cleaning) restrooms, a beautiful performance space, increased access to police and fire memorials, a dog park, downtown proper's only playground, and much more. The design team who led this project — Ramona Fry, Louis R. Johnson, PLA, ASLA, Erin Masterson, Morgan Dunay, and the team at Lexington Parks and Rec Monica Jones Conrad and Michelle Kosiniak did — an amazing job.
Beautiful, usable public spaces are essential to strong civic health. Beyond being places to experience events and gather with friends, they allow people from different backgrounds to spend time around each other and provide an antidote to the dehumanization we see in our online lives. In a park, the people you see around you are your neighbors, and you can see the very real and human stakes of coexisting in a society.
ENORMOUS congrats to Councilmember Hannah LeGris for her tireless work on making this project happen. The same to those who helped envision this project over a decade ago — Brandi Peacher and many others. And a big thank you to Lisa Adkins, J.D., Blue Grass Community Foundation, and the Knight Foundation for supporting this project!