Two Parks Collaborative Concept
The City, along with community stakeholders and nonprofit All Ages Recreation Downtown (AARD) are actively working on the Two-Park Collaborative Concept providing improvements to Leigh Creekside Park and creation of a new active play area at the Gazebo site downtown. To get involved, sign up to receive the Parks, Trails & Recreation Commission’s agendas using our e-notification form.
Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission Meeting July 10, 2024 - Phase 1 Design Concepts
The City has been working with Design Consultant Scientific Art Studio to create Phase 1 Design Concepts for Leigh Creekside and Gazebo Parks as part of the Two Parks Collaborative Concept. Community workshops were held at Leigh Creekside Park (January 10, 2024) and Gazebo Park (April 27, 2024). The consultant took feedback from the meetings and direction from the Two Parks Collaborative Concept (authored by Callister, Cass, Dixon) to create conceptual designs. The Phase 1 Design Concepts are posted HERE.
In the weeks ahead staff will work with Scientific Art Studio and the Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission to coordinate a date, time and location for the next community workshop. The workshop will provide an opportunity for residents to comment on the conceptual designs. Comments may also be submitted to the Parks, Trails and Recreation Director (jkatayanagi@ci.lafayette.ca.us). Residents interested in following the process should sign up for Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission eNotifications on the City website. Scientific Art Studio will use feedback from the Phase 1 Conceptual Designs to create Phase 2 Conceptual Designs. After the Phase 2 Conceptual Designs are reviewed through public process the City will work with a Civil Engineer to create Construction Drawings for the two parks. Scientific Art Studio has been asked to design concepts for play area sections of each park. Benches, tables and other amenities outside of the play areas will be considered as part of the Construction Drawings. Construction Drawings will be reviewed at future public meetings.
Staff is recommending that the PTR Commission not discuss plan details or features. Staff will coordinate with Scientific Art Studio, the Two Park Collaborative Concept authors and the PTR Commission to schedule the community meeting to collect feedback regarding the designs.
Parks Subcommittee Meeting June 24, 2024 - Phase 1 Design Concept
The City has been working with Design Consultant Scientific Art Studios to create Phase 1 Design Concepts for Leigh Creekside and Gazebo Parks as part of the Two Parks Collaborative Concept. community workshops were held at Leigh Creekside Park (January 10, 2024) and Gazebo Park (April 27, 2024). The consultant took feedback from the meetings and direction from the Two Parks Collaborative Concept (authored by Callister, Cass, Dixon) to create conceptual designs. The Phase 1 Gazebo Concept is posted HERE. The Phase 1 Conceptual Design for Leigh Creekside will be added to the page as it becomes available.
In the weeks ahead staff will work with Scientific Art Studios and the Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission to coordinate a date, time and location for the next community workshop. The workshop will provide an opportunity for residents to comment on the conceptual designs. Comments may also be submitted to the Parks, Trails and Recreation Director (jkatayanagi@ci.lafayette.ca.us). Residents interested in following the process should sign up for Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission eNotifications on the City website. Scientific Art Studios will use feedback from the Phase 1 Conceptual Designs to create Phase 2 Conceptual Designs. After the Phase 2 Conceptual Designs are approved the City will work with a Civil Engineer to create Construction Drawings for the two parks. Scientific Art Studios has been asked to design concepts for play area sections of each park. Benches, tables and other amenities outside of the play areas will be considered as part of the Construction Drawings. Construction Drawings will be reviewed at future public meetings.
Update: The Leigh Creekside Park Phase 1 Design Concept will not be available for Monday's Parks Subcommittee Meeting. It will be posted to the website once it becomes available. Both Design Concepts will be discussed a a future meeting once they are both available. The Subcommittee will not be discussing the specific details or content of either design at Monday's meeting.
Additional Update: Staff is working closely with the Two Park Collaborative Concept Authors (Callister, Cass, Dixon) and Scientific Art Studios to bring forward the design concepts. We would like to clarify that the Two Parks Collaborative Concept Agenda Item state that “Staff will introduce the Draft Phase 1 Conceptual Designs for Leigh Creekside and Gazebo Park and discuss next steps with the Parks Subcommittee”, however only the Gazebo Park Phase 1 Concept will be available for the Parks Subcommittee meeting. Staff is recommending that the Parks Subcommittee only discus next steps such as getting the Leigh Creekside Park Conceptual Design on the City website and working with Scientific Art Studios to schedule a community meeting to collect feedback regarding the design. Thank you for your patience while we work to bring forward both collaborative designs.
Community Workshop Saturday, April 27, 2024
Mark your calendars for the Two Parks Collaborative Concept Community Workshop on Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 3 pm. This will be the second meeting to discuss park design concepts for Leigh Creekside Park and Gazebo Park. This workshop will be in the Gazebo Parking Lot (near 3425 Mt. Diablo Blvd.). Participants will join the Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission and City staff as they work with the City’s consultant, Scientific Art Studio, to discuss the design for the parks.
Community Workshop Saturday, January 20, 2024
Mark your calendars for the Two Parks Collaborative Concept Community Workshop on Saturday, January 20, 2024 at 9 am. This will be the first meeting to discuss park design concepts for Leigh Creekside Park and Gazebo Park. This workshop will be in Leigh Creekside Park, with a second workshop to take place at the Gazebo site on a future date to be determined. Participants will join the Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission and City staff as they work with the City’s consultant, Scientific Art Studio, to discuss the design for the parks.
Leigh Creekside Park is located at the corner of 4th Street and Moraga Blvd. in Lafayette. Everyone is welcome to come give their input!
New Partnership Focused on New Park Development
The local nonprofit, All Ages Recreation Downtown (AARD) is actively fundraising to help the City move forward with Two Parks Collaborative Concept. If you are interested in helping to bring more play for all ages near downtown Lafayette, consider making a donation today. Your tax-deductible donation will go towards AARD’s pop-up recreation programs as well as support for design and construction of new parks and creek walks in downtown Lafayette.
Summary Background
Since 2016, the City and community have been discussing improvements to Leigh Creekside Park, as well as the desire to create a park downtown near the library. After a number of setbacks, in March 2022, a group of stakeholders brought forward a collaborative concept based on a scaled-back project at Leigh Creekside Park plus a new active play area at the Gazebo Park location downtown (at 3425 Mt. Diablo Blvd). In April 2022, the City Council approved the “Two-Park Collaborative Concept”, which is outlined in the Letter and Collaborative Concept sent to Council from the Parks, Trails and Recreation Commission.
In June of 2023, the City Council allocated $35k towards the Conceptual Designs of Leigh Creekside and Gazebo Parks and hired playground design consultant, Scientific Art Studios to create concept sketches (phase 1). Work by Scientific Art Studio includes wonderful playgrounds at San Francisco Zoo, Oakland Zoo, Bay Area Discovery Museum Lookout Cove, and more.
The project has also been included in the Parks, Trails & Recreation Commission’s Capital Improvement Plan.
The City also formalized a partnership with the newly formed nonprofit All Ages Recreation Downtown (AARD). AARD is currently fundraising to support the Two Parks Collaborative Concept. AARD has pledged to raise $50K to support the conceptual design of the project (phase 2). Donations are accepted on AARD’s website.
The two parks are connected by an existing East Bay Regional Park District Trail. The trails is currently closed due to erosion caused by the creek, but EBRPD staff have plans to move forward with repairs as they move through the proper permit approval process for working in the creek.