August 13, 2012 at 1:02pm
A worker puts finishing touches on the foundation for downtown Olympia's first parklet
Downtown Olympia’s first parklet is under construction.
In front of Darby’s café, a crew has worked for two days laying the foundation for the space.
An interview with Brian Wilson, city liaison, clues us in on the project.
“I'd love to see a downtown full of parklets,” he says. “They provide a lighter, quicker, cheaper solution to placemaking.”
There are currently two parklets planned for downtown Olympia (one in front of Darby's and the other in front of Jake's). These parklets were made possible by a matching grant from the Parking & Business Improvement Area (PBIA).
Both parklets will have unique features.
“Darby's tried to use as many reclaimed materials as possible,” says Wilson, “They are using old paver bricks that were previously in downtown alleyways, refinished church pews and recycled sails for the awning. There will also be covered bike parking and a community herb garden. The parklet at Jake's will have a more modern feel. Rob Cameron (the owner) plans on using decking material that will include plenty of bench seating. There will also be a number of tree and flower planters. It will bring color to a block that faces a variety of challenges at the moment.”
Wilson says the idea came from San Francisco, a city teeming with urban creativity.
“It's an idea that is sweeping the country through the efforts of the non-profit organization Project for Public Spaces.”
Darby’s parklet should be usable by the end of the week, and completed within two.
Darby's is located at 211 5th Ave Se.
Off duty rules.
5 Things To Do, All Ages, Arts, Benefits, Best of Olympia, Best of TAcoma, Bobble Tiki, Books, Chainsuck, Classical Music, Comedy, Comment The The Day, Community, Concerts, Condemn or Allow?, Contest, Day Tripper, DJ/Electronica, Events, Facebook, Fashion, Federal Way, Fife, Fircrest, Food & Drink, Future Things Are Coming, Games, Genius, Gig Harbor, Green Crush, Happy Hour Hug, Holidays, In Their Words, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Keeping Up With The Coffeehouses, Lacey, Lakewood, Media, Military, Milton, Music, Nerd Alert!, Night Moves, Not Cool, Olympia, Outdoor Addict, outdoors, Photo Hot Spot, Podcast, Pop Culture, Poster of the Day, Puyallup, Radio, Retail, Rocket Science, Ruston, Schools, Screens, Sex, Shout Out, Spanaway, Sports, Steilacoom, Summer Tip, Sumner, Tacoma, Theater, Tightwad, Travel, Twitter, University Place, USO, Video Hot Spot, Volunteer, Web/Tech, Word
Looks delicious! Thank you Jackie for share ^^
Banff National Park is a breath of fresh air. A small mountain town with world class facilities...
about 5 Things To Do Today: "Polar Express," Banff Film Fest, parking chat, Mikal Cronin and more ...
No probz!
about Weekend Hip-hop: Crazy Monk, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Awall, Equipto and others ...
Too many cover-bands play at The Swiss.
Wohoo! Love this and great work! From one Assyrian to another I congratulate you and am rooting...
about Olympia food truck Nineveh Assyrian owner to star on cooking talk show
Comments for "Parklets in Olympia - mini parks will add color" (1)
Northwest Military is not responsible for the content of these reviews. Northwest Military reserves the right to remove reviews at their discretion.
Kate Hill said on Aug. 14, 2012 at 12:20pm
What a great idea for downtown Olympia!
Leave A Comment