Oslund & Associate’s proposed re-design of Peavey Plaza

The new design calls for the complete removal of Peavey Plaza—the signature fountains and grade levels, the hardscape, the plantings, everything. These are the features that make the such a singular, iconic, and vibrant public space. A new park that has some recessed levels and water features will be built. It has a lot of technology as well—a “sound garden” and a “performance wall.” The design looks like it smashes together the New York Highline and Chicago’s Millennium Park. While these are both interesting designs and successful projects, we believe that the proposed designs for Peavey effectively transform a landmark into a lookalike. What you can do: The city has set up a webpage with images of the “recommended design.” There is a link to submit comments via email by midnight (CST) October 24, 2011. Two city council committees are meeting on Tuesday to vote on the design to move the project forward. They will supposedly take the comments into consideration. The city council is supposed to vote on the design on November 4 and they hope to start construction in spring 2012.

Please go to this site and submit a comment to the city – let them know if you feel the new design really “sympathetically reinterprets” the current design. The link on the webpage for comments goes to Beth Grosen at the city: Beth.Grosen@minneapolismn.gov

Read more: Original Peavey Plaza architect M. Paul Friedberg and Post-WWII landscape architecture expert, Charles Birnbaum’s letter to the City of Minneapolis voicing their concern about the new design.