New York consultant sees 'signature park' in Peavey Plaza's future

Sunken Peavey Plaza would be livelier if it were raised to street level or a few steps above that, said consultant Danny Fuchs.

Danny Fuchs of the New York City-based firm HR&A said that the number of events at a redesigned Peavey Plaza could (and should) go from 100 per year now to as many as 300, and the annual budget for it would more than double.

Fuchs gave a presentation of his Peavey Plaza research to a small crowd in the lobby of Orchestra Hall Tuesday night. He concluded that the space is well-positioned to become what he calls a "signature park" that would have intense usage throughout the year by Minnesota Orchestra patrons, downtown office workers, residents, tourists and convention-goers.

Models for this approach include Bryant Park in midtown Manhattan, which recently has been renovated into a lively gathering place with permanent ping-pong tables, group yoga, food concessions and more. Millennium Park in Chicago is a "signature park" on a much grander scale.

Though the design of Peavey Plaza is being done by Thomas Oslund and his Twin Cities firm, Minnesota Orchestra has brought in HR&A to consult about aspects of the place other than its design, including financing, programming, longterm vision, sustainability, concessions, leadership and operations.

HR&A has been involved in such recent successful projects as the High Line a park running along a former elevated train track in New York, and Fountain Square in Cincinnati.

Fuchs said the current Peavey Plaza is "unwelcoming" and that there is no structured use other than scheduled events.

"Signature parks, with higher traffic and usage, cost more than 'normal' parks," Fuchs said, but they also can generate income.

The plaza, which now hosts mostly music events, could be activated with other kinds of programming, Fuchs said, listings such things as movie nights, skating, lawn bowling, art fairs and a farmer's market.

Asked about the feasibility of all this in the plaza's sunken design, Fuchs said, "most of the currently successful parks elsewhere that I have studied or worked on are either flat or a few steps up from street level."

Oslund said his firm hopes to have more detailed design drawings for the plaza by late June. The plaza makeover, now budgeted at $6 million, is happening at the same time as Orchestra Hall is getting a $45 million facelift (rendering below) that will affect mainly its lobby and façade.