My revitalized place will re-institute a sense of place, pride, and community into this neighborhood. The redeveloped Old Landover Park will be the beacon for citizens of all ages in both the neighborhood and local community encouraging interactions between local citizens. The park will provide citizens with the old, family-oriented sense of community that once thrived throughout neighborhoods across the United States. Upon arriving to the park visitors will be greeted by a breathtaking welcome sign.
After entering the park citizens will be presented with the plethora of opportunities and options the park offers.
Programs offered including sports, personal training, bird watching, fishing, gardening, after school programs, upcoming movie nights or other events. The park will captivate citizens with its refreshing vibe from the parks structural and natural commodities. The newly cleaned and beautified pond will provide a natural sparkle in the center of the park. Surrounding the pond, the tartar track will provide mixed-use for running, jogging and children cycling.
Soft family-friendly music can be heard in the background mixed in with the laughs and conversations from citizens meeting up and hanging out. The breeze coming across the pond will bring smells from the neighborhood garden as well as the food being grilled at the food station where citizens can bring their own food to be made or a local business will be selling food.
Movable seating will be checked out with I.D. cards as well as any other games or balls provided to community members and spread throughout the park as adult citizens spend their time enjoying other benefits including programs such as “Yoga by the Pond” one of the many programs or using the outdoor stage for playing live music.
The new playground will include an over sized checkers and chess board, building letter blocks, as well as the other playground additions and brain games.
The atmosphere in Old Landover Park will completely evolved. It will lure people in daily and provide them with the perfect opportunity to be outdoors and interact with other members of the community and overall encourage healthier lifestyles. The new Old Landover Park will have structural restrooms and water fountains along with a groundskeeper and groundskeeper assistant who are responsible for maintenance and use of park amenities. Citizens will not want to leave! And the park will be there to reunite them every day.
Approvals
The approvals necessary for this project are very minimal. Old Landover Park in its current state is out of use and blocking no roadways. Interference with citizens day-to-day lives will not be an issue for this project. We will need approvals from the City of Hyattsville. We will need approval to break ground and implement the few major amenities within the park which we already have almost pre-approved proposals outlined for because we use the same set of designs in other places with similar underwriting that is always accepted. This is how we provide sustainable solutions without overpricing. Simply improving the current natural characteristics of Old Landover Park does not require any approval. We aim to breath life back into communities what better way to spark economic growth than making the area more appealing and less mysterious. The area surrounding Old Landover Park can benefit greatly from what we do. Also, there are few to none companies that specialize in this type of development because it is financially sustainable and does not offer major payouts from the original development but instead an economic surge.
Funding
For funding we run a few campaigns to attract public awareness to the issue we working to solve. We reach out to people throughout the community and ask their input as well as reaching out to local government leaders asking for their help in bringing our vision to life. Genuinely sitting down and explaining how we can help local communities goes a long way and more people are willing to lend a hand when benefits can be accrued over long period of time. This park will but we already have a handful of investors already that we can rely on consistently. We do utilize TIFs because they allow us to pull in private partners which end up spending well below budget because our redevelopment is not construction extensive. We use sustainable products and use the same unique designs so our retailers give us discounts. By having cost efficient products throughout the process and attracting private funding from TIFs we are able to go above and beyond for this project.
Long-Term Maintenance
Apart of the program we offer positions contracted from our company. Old Landover Park will receive a groundskeeper who oversees the park for 5 hours per day depending on specific park amenities and traffic per season. This job will be outsourced preferably to neighborhood members who will receive training and supervision as well. The groundskeeper will make sure the park stays maintained, clean and all amenities are in working order. The amenities themselves will be open for use to the community with certain items requiring I.D. to check-out and check-in to assure fairness and safety. The park groundskeepers are great part-time positions for high school or college students as it will be compensated at $15 per hour. As mentioned earlier the amount of time and work required will vary per season. For the Summer and Spring we estimate Old Landover Park will need 5 hours daily from a Groundskeeper and Groundskeeper Assistant to start. We pay for this also because we want the community to get the most out of this project. We truly care that the local community reaps the benefits of our work and we make a difference. I feel that the best way to do this is by providing a team of local support to enhance the experience for everyone.
Marketing
We will kick off the marketing of the new and improved Old Landover Park with a community block party. There will be live music, games for both children and adults, food, sponsors advertising local citizens and companies who will be renting facilities or running programs at the park. The block party will be an all-day affair where we provide demonstrations of all the park has to offer throughout the course of a day. We will conclude with a special presentation and thank you. Sending off the community with a bonfire with marshmallows in the newly designed fire pit along with a “Movie by the Pond” which will be a reoccurring event held at the park throughout the warm seasons. Invitations inviting the local community out will be posted in the newspaper, post-card style mailed to each home, and advertised on billboards surrounding the neighborhood with reminders of the date and location of the event. We will also establish a new working relationship with the local schools encouraging them to indulge in the opportunities at the park and get children outside and active.
My Final Place Video
Sustainable Placemaking: Building Community Project 