Park(ing) Day, a global celebration of public space, creativity, and engaging urban design, returns to downtown Chattanooga on Friday, September 16 from 10am to 4pm.
“The idea of Park(ing) Day is very simple,” explains Eric Myers from the Chattanooga Design Studio, one of the event’s local organizers. “For one day, people take on-street parking spaces and convert them into small parks. It’s a safe and fun way that we can reclaim some space for people to enjoy and demonstrate different ways to use the public realm.”
Examples of “parklets” have included miniature golf courses, yoga studios, performance art spaces, and even temporary housing units. Park(ing) Day originated in the Bay Area in the mid-2000s before spreading across the country later that decade. Today, thousands of cities across the world will take part on September 16.
This year marks the twelfth year that Chattanooga has been involved, after taking a pandemic hiatus in 2021.
“After two years of working from home, we’ve found that we have had to bring the world into our homes,” says Marcus Ellsworth from RiverCity Company, another local organizer. “That’s why our theme this year is Inside Out,” “We encourage Chattanoogans to show us how your home has been transformed during the pandemic. Has your living room evolved into an office? A gym? A playground? We invite you to come share that so that we can enjoy public space together.”
“Chattanooga is obviously a city with a very rich culture around public space and civic design, and Park(ing) Day is an extension of that,” says Scott Martin from the City of Chattanooga’s Department of Parks & Outdoors. “The event is about encouraging everyone to see our city and use our city in new ways. A typical parking space is 7 feet by 18 feet, but within those dimensions, we want people’s imaginations to run wild.”
This year, as in previous years, Park(ing) Day in Chattanooga will utilize on-street parking spaces on two blocks of Broad Street between Fourth Street and Aquarium Drive.
Participation in Chattanooga’s Park(ing) Day is free and open to the public. Businesses, nonprofits, individuals, civic groups and schools of all sizes are invited to claim a parking space and submit ideas for how to transform it by visiting chattanoogastudio.com/parking-day.