Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park is reaching the end of renovations that have taken nearly 23 years to implement.
A final phase of work would open the park’s southern edge, which today is a series of berms populated with trees.
“Pretty bland,” is how Jeff Mroczek, the city of Rochester’s senior landscape architect, describes the park’s curbside appeal.
The park itself is 50 years old, spreading across xx acres near Strong National Museum of Play. But the hilly southside the fronts the museum doesn’t represent the rest of the park, Mroczek said, “from a green perspective or a pedestrian perspective, (it) should set the stage for what you experience in the rest of the park.”
Rochester City Council first broached the idea of renovating the park, then known as Manhattan Square, in 1999. A masterplan for that renovation was approved December 2002. The goal was to modernize the park, built in 1975, which at that point in time had fallen into a state of disrepair.
“Physical deterioration, a lack of day-to-day use, a run-down appearance, a lack of infrastructure necessary to accommodate people, events, and spectators, and issues related to safety have plagued the park,” the master plan reads.
This month, the Rochester City Council will vote on a $250,000 contract with Barton & Loguidice for designs on the fourth phase of park improvements, following up on infrastructure improvements made in 2004, 2010, and 2012.
The goal is to “soften” the frontages of the park on Chestnut and Court streets.
The bill will go to vote on Tuesday, Feb. 25.
"The intent is to revitalize the park to meet our current needs,” Mroczek said. “Obviously, the 1975 park doesn’t meet our needs anymore, that was the center of the urban renewal plan it was built for.”
The design will largely be funded by a $187,500 state Environmental Protection Fund grant. The city will cover the remaining $62,500.
Phase four is the last major renovation planned for the park. Other minor improvements are also planned for the yard area, used for events like the Party in the Park concert series.
The design follows up on the city’s improvements to the park’s playground, announced in December. Much has changed since the last phase of the park was undertaken. In 2012, the Inner Loop still ran along the eastern edge of downtown. Roc Holiday Village at the park, now one of the city’s most popular events, was still years from beginning. Party in the Park, another major attraction to MLK Park, was at the time held in a parking lot on Exchange Boulevard.
Mroczeck said the changing dynamics of the park and neighborhood emphasize the need for improvements. He called the planned renovations as a “refresher” that would bring the park into “the modern realm.”
“We know the park isn’t working now,” he said, adding: “It’s seen better days from a maintenance and upkeep standpoint, (and) sightlines are a big issue for safety, security, and accessibility,”
