I am so happy to be able to write this next chapter in the story of an inquiry into the potential of a fantastic urban space.

The spot, at the intersection of Granby, Bute, and Charlotte.

These past three months since the first article was published here in AltDaily have been amazingly reassuring to me with regard to the current state of the City of Norfolk, as well as the region of Hampton Roads. Almost every week has included a public hearing or a committee meeting or gathering of friends all coming together with the aim to improve our place of dwelling for the short and long term. During this time Flatiron Park has been a constant and consistent touchstone for fighting the good fight, and numerous people have contributed ideas, knowledge, and warm support.

And so, we–and by “we” I am referring to RE:Vision Norfolk, a group dedicated to defeating “brain drain” in Norfolk–have learned a lot more about the Park site and its current physical and conceptual context. Here are some key findings:

• The City intends to keep Flatiron Park developed as a public park.
• Some funding for landscaping the Park is included in the scope of work for the 7+ miles of light rail landscaping.
• The light rail right-of-way on Charlotte Street will encroach 10 feet into the southern edge of the park site.
• Due to Bute Street no longer being set to be closed to the north, and to the development of light rail on Charlotte to the south, there is no current schematic design for the site.
• The foundations of the former Flatiron Building remain underneath the site, and the soils are considered to be contaminated. This is why the current Park plantings are in a raised bed with retaining walls at the perimeter. This has changed a good bit lately due to site work related to light rail construction–the south edge of the park planter has been demolished.
• The City government is extremely positive and encouraging with regard to community gardens being located Downtown.

The charrette.

With this information and input from our own growing roster of experts, enthusiasts and professionals, we proceeded to work toward a design for how we would like to see Flatiron Park developed. It is incredible to me how easily the site accommodates the bulk of desired features identified during our initial “sidewalk charrette”: a multi-purpose public plaza, community garden, space for public art, a dog-friendly space, bike racks, numerous sustainability-focused amenities.

Crowd-sourced and place-made, the design felt like it formed itself as it folded in the layers of the site and the surrounding context (see the first article for more detail on this).We began at the macro scale, zoomed out to the equivalent of an aerial view of the Park. The widest portion of the distinctive triangle shape coincides with the most pedestrian-oriented boundary: Granby Street, with restaurants, residences, and businesses immediately adjacent. This would be the location of the public plaza–in the sense of the German platz, meaning place, space or room–an urban room for a range of unspecified activities engaged in by people in groups or alone.

Moving west, as the boundaries taper, the plaza gets softer with vegetation, gradually becoming less paving and more foliage and lawn. This zone is for the provision of some Nature – an undisputed component of any good park. Stretching out on a patch of lush grass with a book, frolicking with a dog, stopping to smell the flowers, finding some shade, etc. Continuing westward, one would encounter the community gardens, the distinguishing feature of the Park, its most complex and sublime, at once private space in its division into singular garden plots and public amenity with its beautiful display of a bounty of organic foodstuff and vegetated ornament.

As the area of the gardens tapers to the point of the triangle, it also rises in elevation, becoming a wedge with fourfold function: 1) Provide a series of raised planter boxes for edible or ornamental plants to be cultivated over the course of multiple seasons; 2) Provide a controlled point of entry and safe boundaries. The sloped sides are inaccessible due to a combination of their elevation and integrated fencing; 3) Provide a space in the western thicker portion of the wedge underneath the gardens for tool storage, and water tanks for irrigation; and 4) Become a monumental architectural feature that recalls the presence of the former Flatiron Building and accommodates a view to the surroundings as they evolve.

Watercolor rendering.

So here now we zoom in to the micro scale with a tour of the Park, again starting at Granby Street:

The Plaza is a paved multi-purpose surface comprised of a combination of pervious and impervious concrete paving units. The pervious pavers, or “grass-pavers”, have openness in their makeup allowing for drainage and integration of plant material, and are arranged to be a transition between the lawn areas (soft) and the impervious plaza surface (hard). Park furnishings are typically located within the softer pervious paver areas and include backless benches, trash cans, tables with umbrellas and seating, bike racks and way-finding signage orienting visitors to the surrounding environs. The Plaza is the primary space for public activity and is suitably unobstructed and illuminated for safe usage both day and night.

The site slopes gradually to the west, rising up from the old substrate of the former building and giving elevated presence to the public space.

The lawns are contoured, a combination of flat and bermed landforms. These provide attractive places to sit, lie, run around, or play upon. Trees are planted in ideal spots for shade or shelter.

Paved ramped pathways connect the west Plaza and Lawn areas to the brick-paved sidewalks surrounding the Park.

The plan.

The east edge of the terraced Community Gardens is defined by a long and low planter box. This will be for ornamental plants, flowers, herbs. A ramp leads you to the secure edge of the gardens, a retractable gate wall is located at this boundary for safety and security after open-hours. At this point, there are two options for navigating the terraced garden wedge: a central stair that bisects the wedge from bottom to top, or a zig-zagging series of ramps and landings that make the same trip as the stair, but meet the Building Code for accessibility, and define the edges of each garden plot – also providing a hard surface from which to work from any side of each plot. The plots themselves are in boxes four feet wide by varying lengths; the longer boxes in the lower levels can be subdivided, and upper boxes are well-suited for individual plots. The top-most level of the terraced gardens is the most intimate and exposed place in all of Flatiron Park, and it is this special nature that gives it its function: a place for the communal potting bench and compost bin, and the observatory over the whole of the gardens and the surrounding City. It is a place of serious work and conversation, rest and reflection. Below and to the west is the final space of the Park, the terminating point of the triangle, and it has similar function: a site for public art, with the narrow vertical face of the gardens as its backdrop and illumination coming from above.

Flatiron Park, to us, is a place to be honored and celebrated. With the permanence of the monument that is the terraced garden construct, the temporary nature of the plants, cycles and seasons, it combines and focuses. Rhythms of movement in traffic and feet. Activities and stillness. Excitement and calm. It is undeniable, and this is our collective expression of its fulfillment.

Now, close your eyes for a moment. Take a deep breath. Take a look at the water-colored illustration and follow along with these scenarios from a hypothetical future:

No. 1    Experience from Granby Street, on bike, with a backpack containing seedlings:

• Lock up at rack and enter the park.
• Say “what’s up?” to friends sitting at a table playing chess.
• Cross the park and take a left turn at the flower box.
• Walk along the ascending wall of the park to the shed door.
• Punch in the combination and enter. Grab gloves and hand shovel from locker and head back to the park.
• Walk up the stairs to plot D3. Get in the dirt. Plant the seedlings.
• Grab ten tomatoes, six cukes, a handful of basil, some arugula and go store the tools.
• Head back to apartment on St. Paul’s, shake up the balsamic and vinegar, and toss the salad.

No. 2   Experience from a seat on The Tide:

• Approach from Monticello, tilt head up to watch the looming Wells Fargo Tower pass, then  linger on a view to Scope and its illuminated and formidable buttresses, a sharp left turn.
• Park comes into view, a calm and clean open space, lights dance on a group huddled in conversation.
• Land mass rises up and over the top edge of the window frame, then the wall of the gardens becomes a rhythm of vibrant red-orange corten steel and vertical beds of green leafy vines. Suddenly, the rising mass disappears as quickly as it appeared, a flicker of light and color and then crossing another main road.
• Ride on to home at Harbor’s Edge, and the last stop.

No. 3   Experience from Boush, on foot with a lab on a leash:

• Wait for The Tide to pass by (don’t forget to wave).
• Cross the street to the tip of the Park.
• Admire the sculpture piece “Mermaid in Repose.”
• Walk along Charlotte and enter the park at the steps between the trees.
• Pick up the pace as Tazewell heads determinedly toward Lawn 2.
• Watch Tazewell sniff and spar and laugh with other dogs’ parents.
• Scoop the poop and deposit in convenient trash receptacle.
• Head back home, looking forward to doing it all again in the morning.

No. 4   Experience from the Federal Court Building, 20^th floor, year 2015:

• Open the operable window in the double-layered glass curtain wall for some fresh air.
• Pause for a moment to watch a woman in overalls navigate a wheelbarrow full of black topsoil along the zigzag of ramps to the potting table at the apex.
• Eye brown paper sack on desk
• Head down for lunch in the Park.

No. 5   Experience of a job-seeker in Vermont, thinking of relocating to a more agreeable climate:

• Online search with keywords: “sustainable,” “environment,” “public transportation,” “real estate,” “fun city” (interestingly, this turns up Alexandria, VA, as the current first result in Google).
• See an article about Norfolk’s Flatiron Park in AltDaily. Click and admire a lovely photo of an urban community garden and enjoy the endearingly-pandering accompanying article–Part 5 of a series.
• Search “Fortune 500 Companies, Norfolk Virginia.” See Norfolk Southern. Search “Norfolk Southern” and see article on the high speed rail line coming online along the Norfolk Southern corridor from Richmond to downtown Norfolk, within walking distance or short light rail trip to the scene in the aforementioned garden photo.
• Ding, ding, ding: we have a winner!
• Tighten up resume and begin calls to numbers beginning with 757.

Scenarios like these have captured the imaginations of the folks designing, researching for, and supporting this inquiry and is the reason why there will be a Part 3 to this story. Much remains to be done, many issues remain to be addressed:

• The management entity of the community garden will be defined, including the rules/regulations for the awarding of individual plots.
• Organizing all of the businesses and local residents that have expressed interest and commitment to the functions of the Park.
• Education and awareness of year-round gardening techniques and methods will be disseminated.
• Funding strategies for realistically getting this thing built will be explored. The good news are that there are numerous options and avenues.

One parting thought:

Please comment as this is our digital Platz. And, if so inclined, please lend a hand!

Interested in community gardening? Join the discussion here.

Editor’s note: Jesse and Hannah are a part of Re:Vision Norfolk, and Jesse has played a hand in developing this project.