Riverside Park Master Plan

Community Board 7 meeting, May 18, 2015

Introduction
The Riverside Park Conservancy is working with a team from the Parks Departments Planning and Parklands
Division, led by Principal Urban Designer Charles McKinney (former Riverside Park Administrator and Parks
Chief of Design) to prepare a Master Plan that will guide the next 20 years of City capital and expense budget
projects as well as privately funded projects.
Riverside Park has benefited enormously from the 1987 Master
Plan for the park. Since then, our park partners, Community
Boards, elected officials, the Parks Department, and the
Riverside Park Conservancy, formerly the Riverside Park Fund,
have accomplished most of the goals identified in the 1987
Plan.
The plan will address issues such as:
Bicycle, pedestrian and runner circulation
Storm related flooding
Landscape health and beauty
Community health and fitness
River access and use
Facility condition and use
Park operation and security

Success of the Master Plan

depends on:

1. Shared understanding of the

park problems and community
needs
2. Commitment to the proposed
solutions, and to obtaining
funding for them
3. Coordinated long-term effort
between agencies, non-profit
partners, community groups and
elected officials to fund and
implement projects

Community Workshops
We conducted two community workshops to find out what
people were already working on, what problems they were
facing and their wishes were.
Brainstorming Workshop

Some of the things people are most concerned about:

Pedestrian and bicycle conflicts
Park condition, horticulture and erosion
The Rotunda, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument
Restrooms
Updating active recreation facilities
Accommodating senior citizens
Park signage and communication
Access to the river and marina

If we have a shared understanding of

the problems and needed projects, it is
easier to prioritize work and devise
restoration programs. It is easier for
elected officials to obtain capital project
funding for projects if the logic and need
are clear and the projects are broadly
supported in the community.

Tonight we will review some results from the Community

Workshops:
Capital project requests
Circulation problems
New facility requests
Next steps for the Planning team
The planning team is examining the whole park, paying particular attention to the community concerns. Over
the summer the team will prepare conceptual plans and budgets for projects and programs that accomplish
community goals and restore the park.