Global Park(ing) Day event returns to Columbus, advocates for greener cities

AJ Hymiller
Fri, 15 Sep 2023 03:21:43 +0000
Arts & Life, Instagram Page, News, architecture, arts & life, brewery district, Buckeyes, Columbus, community, event, german village, global, Haley Wolfe, landscape architecture, Mikey Mlakar, MKSK, ohio state, osu, Park(ing) Day, parking, professionals, SCASLA, SCASLA Ohio State, service, student organization, The Lantern, The Lantern Arts & Life, urban, Volunteering

Washington, D.C. Park(ing) Day installation in 2020. Credit: Courtesy of MKSK

For the first time in over four years, the Ohio State Student Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, also known as SCASLA, is participating in the annual global Park(ing) Day event.

Since its first iteration in 2005, Park(ing) Day has evolved into an annual one-day project that encourages people to transform parking spaces around the world, according to the event’s website. Columbus’ 2023 Park(ing) Day will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday at 536 S. High St. in the Brewery District, Mikey Mlakar, a fourth-year in landscape architecture and president of SCASLA, said.

Mlakar said SCASLA will convert two parking spots into a mini-park where pedestrians can sit, play lawn games and learn about alternative uses for paved public spaces in Columbus.

Park(ing) Day is an important reminder for Columbus and other urban communities that cities need green spaces as they continue to grow, Mlakar said.

“We have seen many cities expand and deteriorate as they do,” Mlakar said. “Columbus needs to support these green and public spaces to allow a community to build.”

For this year’s Park(ing) Day event, SCASLA is partnering with MKSK, a private landscape architecture and planning firm based in Columbus.

The company is excited to partner with SCASLA to allow students to understand what MKSK does around the University District, Haley Wolfe, a landscape architect at MKSK, said.

“Park(ing) Day is important to do together,” Wolfe said. “MKSK has a very big influence on the streets in Columbus.”

Wolfe said a chief goal of Park(ing) Day is to give back spaces made for cars to urbanized communities.

“There is this shift happening,” Wolfe said. “As people have returned to cities, we need less dependence on cars, and need these public spaces to promote the well-being and safety of everyone.”

As an active member of the Ohio Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Wolfe said SCASLA is a component of the state chapter at the university level.

“We partnered because of MKSK’s history of working at Ohio State and on several street projects in Columbus,” Wolfe said. “SCASLA approached us to help guide them in making the event happen.”

According to the American Society of Landscape Architects’ website, this year’s main theme is pollinators because “birds, bats, bees, butterflies and other insects need our help more than ever.”

Mlakar said SCASLA and MKSK selected the event’s location because of its proximity to a variety of urban communities, including Downtown Columbus.

“This location has very high foot traffic,” Mlakar said. “We want to show the community and [passersby] how we can support pollinators in an urban city like Columbus.”

Wolfe said the chosen parking spaces are close to the government buildings and construction that is happening at Interstate Highways 70 and 71 to connect downtown, German Village and the Brewery District in a more pleasing manner.

“Our spaces will shadow a much bigger project that MKSK is in charge of on the High Street bridge,” Wolfe said.

Ultimately, Park(ing) Day events are sustained by self-starters and self-initiated plans, Wolfe said.

“This is not an organized event,” Wolfe said. “If you want to do something like this, it is on you or your nonprofit to have that inspiration to put it into action.”

Mlakar said SCASLA’s mission is to connect its members with professionals in Columbus and other cities to refine their skills in the landscape architecture field. Participating in Park(ing) Day is just one way to accomplish that goal, Mlakar said

“We have always partnered with other people and organizations,” Mlakar said. “We all have responsibilities to be an active member of our community.”

For more information about Park(ing) Day, visit the event’s website.