Right now,
oslund.and.assoc., a local landscape architecture firm, is collecting input both in person and
online about what the redesign of
Peavey Plaza should entail. This week the firm, which the city hired, led a visioning session with members of the public at
Orchestra Hall.
Peavey Plaza is an amphitheater and fountain on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. The 1975 concrete plaza, which New York landscape architect
M. Paul Friedberg designed, is frequently used for outdoor concerts in the warmer months. But its mechanical system is giving out while other areas are also showing signs of wear and tear.
Oslund.and.assoc. is taking the time to find out about how people use the plaza and what they like and dislike about it, explains Tadd Kreun, a landscape architect at the firm who is working on the project. At this early stage, he says, "It would be premature to form design concepts until we know the pulse of the community and the users."
Some parts of the plaza could be left intact, or it could get a whole new look.
In March the firm will come back with some design alternatives at an open house. Final designs will come out in the summer while the groundbreaking is slated for spring 2012.
Kreun says the firm, which also designed
Gold Medal Park alongside the
Guthrie Theater, and
Target Field's Target Plaza, has had Peavey Plaza on its radar for a couple years. "Peavey Plaza is obviously a huge iconic space in downtown Minneapolis," he says. "It's a great opportunity to work on a marquee space."
The plaza is being updated in conjunction with the $40 million expansion
of the neighboring Orchestra Hall. But the $5 million or $6 million
plaza project will require some fundraising, according to Kreun.
One of the firm's partners, New York-based
HR&A Advisors, is looking at ways to make it sustainable economically or "help self-fund itself," he says.
Source: Tadd Kreun, landscape architect, oslund.and.assoc.
Writer: Anna Pratt