Past Events
Design Open House & BBQ
May 2, 2009
After Town Hall #2, the design team took some time to consolidate the input from the Focus Group meetings and the town hall. We met again at Starr King Elementary on May 2nd for a Design Open House & BBQ Cook-off. The day’s events were held in the morning and repeated in the afternoon so that community members and residents of Potrero Terrace and Annex could drop in throughout the day. Though the morning rain made for a smaller morning session, the afternoon proved well-attended.
The master plan architects, Van Meter Williams Pollack (VMWP) generated three different site alternatives for presentation:
• North/South Historic Grid Plan
• East/West Grid Plan
• Connecticut/Dakota Plan
Fred Pollack and Chris Sensenig of VMWP walked groups through the different site alternatives in a short PowerPoint presentation. In each plan, they highlighted:
• Circulation Patterns- vehicular and pedestrian connections
• View Corridors
• Steep Streets and grade changes
• Open Spaces/Commons
Following the presentation, we broke into small groups for discussion and a short survey. Participants were asked to consider different elements of the site alternatives and to rank their importance (i.e., street connections, location of retail, overall circulation scheme, etc.) The survey was followed by a general Open House, where everyone was given a chance ponder the three schemes, ask questions and provide input to the design and development teams.
Following two session of hard work, in the afternoon the rain cleared up for a community BBQ-Cook Off. Ten residents from Potrero Terrace and Annex competed in a prestigious match of the grills. A panel of BBQ connoisseurs (many thanks to Ron Miguel, Hattie Breed, Oscaryne Williams and Tony Kelly) were presented the challenge of choosing the champion from a blind taste-test. Much fun and much BBQ were enjoyed by all!
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