The Columbus and Franklin County Metropolitan Park District is currently obtaining land along the Scioto River in Grove City, Ohio, where it plans to establish the final 2009 levy-promised parkland, but it does not currently have a design drafted for this park. Our project provides a design for the nineteenth Columbus and Franklin County Metro Park, which, for the purposes of this proposal, has been christened Scioto Bends Metro Park.
Our goal was to provide a model for change in transforming the dominance of traditional park development by focusing on sustainability education, and managing natural resources for resilience to persist through change in an uncertain future. Various educational initiatives will encourage conservation behavior and promote a positive perception of individual sustainable actions within the community.
Image courtesy of Metro Parks. The student group highlighted areas reflected in its proposal: purple is recreation areas, red is farm and gardens, green is habitat restoration and natural resource management, and orange is the greenways trail extension.
Of the many park features proposed to achieve this ambitious educational mission, the focal point will be the Scioto South Living Research Farm and Community Gardens. This “farm of the future” would be an educational partnership effort with The Ohio State University, and act as a functional, actively operating research farm discovering the future of sustainable agriculture, and would actively educate the local community on the importance of local, sustainably produced food sources.
This design provides a cost-effective opportunity to shape traditional park design to more directly address the ever-changing environmental challenges of the 21st century.