Upper Harbor Terminal: Translating Engagement to Park Design & Operations
Client: The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
Date Range: 2015-2019
Summary: The Musicant Group was retained by The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board to deliver a park Program Model to make future public space at the Upper Harbor Terminal welcoming to all. Through public engagement, we identified community values, resident motivations and priorities, which guided our design of three different park designs for the public space.
Project Goals & Strategy
The Musicant Group ‘s goal was to support making the future public space at Upper Harbor Terminal welcoming to everyone: including people of all ages, groups, local organizations and visitors wanting to explore and learn about the unique aspects of the place.
Our strategy involved applying our Program Model to engage with the public users of the space to learn the types of experiences they wished to have, allowing this to guide our designs.
What we did
The Musicant Group’s Program Model analyzed community values as a basis for understanding visitor and resident motivations and interests.
From this understanding, we identified precedents, established an experiential framework for the park (including parkway), and suggested a spectrum of activities to be explored in conceptual design alternatives.
Outcomes & Benefits
Building off of our public engagement and program model, the design team and project partners developed three distinct park designs for the Upper Harbor Terminal site. Each of the three concepts included the following design components;
Improved ecological systems along the River.
Integrated opportunities for public art and environmental communications
Defined opportunities for interpretation and learning
Enhanced opportunities for stormwater management and improved habitat areas