Wednesday night we introduced the project to residents and representatives at the South Tacoma Neighborhood Council meeting held at the STAR Center. There were about 30 or so in attendance.
Rebecca went over project background, from describing the trail and park issues to artist selection and project scope. She handed out a 2-page flyer that provided some examples of prior projects I've worked on, biographical information and a brief description of what I've been doing to date on the project (with a link to this blog). While flyers were distributed, I talked a little bit about the research I've been doing and time spent walking trails and exploring the neighborhood.
I touched on a few of the conceptual approaches I was thinking about, including the 'bio boulder', bike racks, iconic sculptural earthwork, plantings and trail markers. The bluebird boxes and the mural projects met with some real enthusiasm, with one resident remarking that the window locations on the pump house were the former site of some WPA era stained glass pieces. I'm now searching for more information about that.
Post-meeting we circulated around the room and tried to meet and talk to as many folks as we could. I had a follow-up conversation with the gentleman who mentioned the WPA project, a local business owner who was instrumental in saving the ROW land Water Flume Trail is located on, a couple of UW Tacoma urban studies students who want me to speak to their class, a steward for Oak Tree Park and a couple council members who were most enthusiastic about habitat restoration as a means to build community.
