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18-103613Is—iosc013 , CITY OF CITY HALL Federal Way, , Avenue South FederalWay Federal Way, WA 3) 835-6325 RECEIVED offed 835-7000 com Centered On Opportunity wwwcityoffederalway.com AUG 10 2018 Jim Ferrell, Mayor July 31, 2018 CITY OF FEDERAL WAY L. Oh�Mi1?41iY DEVELOPMENT Attn: Great Places in Washington Awards Program Email: office washin on -a a.ore Washington Chapter American Planning Association 2150 North 107`' Street, Suite 205 Seattle, WA 98133 Dear Great Places Nomination Committee: The City of Federal Way enthusiastically submits the enclosed nomination packet for the Federal Way Town Square Park for the 2018 Great Places in Washington Award - Large Space Category. The 4-acre park is part of the city's 15-acre Town Center Redevelopment Initiative. The concept of the park is a significant component of the "Placemaking" planning incorporated in the city's City Center Core revitalization effort. Planning began in earnest in 2015 with input through a year of community design charrettes. Residents spent months working with city staff to identify the following goals for Town Square Park: • Act as the center of Federal Way and establish a strong identity for the city's downtown. • Connect to Performing Arts and Events Center, the Federal Way Regional Transit Center, the Commons Mall, and a future light rail station all within walking distance. • Encourage surrounding existing and future transit -orientated development. • Establish a communal open space for active and passive recreation for area residents to exercise and community gathering for free movies in the park, concerts, our annual tree lighting and special events. ■ Incorporate significant urban design elements and public art murals made by our citizens. City staff began the in-house design process, by incorporating the community's recommendations such as the "Great Lawn" for outdoor open space and community gatherings. It also incorporates contemporary play equipment such as a climbing structure, kid's zip -line, and a splash pad. Low impact development is a critical component of the Park's design, in the form of green building design of the restrooms and picnic structure which contains a green roof public demonstration project. The walking loop is entirely composed of pervious concrete and a rain -garden lies on the northeast corner of the park. The park has become as it was envisioned, a catalyst for the city's downtown revitalization efforts. It has and is leveraging other public and private investments estimated at $350 to $500 million. In a short period of time, Town Square Park has become the heart of our city. This project is a milestone in the city and the first toward identifying a `Great Gathering' place in our downtown. It represents major city commitment to `Placemaking' for the community and visitors from all backgrounds and ethnicities as our young city matures. Great Places Nomination letter to APA WA Page 2 of 2 We are pleased to support this important nomination for the American Planning Association's Great Gathering Spaces Award. We look forward to hearing from your organization on the final results of APA Washington's nomination process. Thank you for the opportunity to participate through the local Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association. Sincerely, Brian Davis Community Development Director c: Robert `Doc' Hansen, Planning Manager Steve Ikerd, Deputy Parks Director Tim Johnson, Economic Development Director Leila Willoughby -Oakes, Associate Planner enc: Federal Way Town Square Park Nomination Packet Nomination Form Great Neighborhoods In Washington State Great Places in Washington xi{ Awards Program An awards program co -sponsored by the Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA WA) and the Planning Association of Washington (PAW) Nominations Due: July 16 Please send a digital copy to - and a hard copy to Washington Chapter American Planning Association 2150 N 107tn Street Ste 205, Seattle, WA 98133 postmarked by July 16. Submittals are limited to six pages total (including this cover page). The 2018 Great Places in Washington Awards program will recognize Great Gathering Spaces in Washington State. Awards this year will be given to three different gathering spaces based on their relative size. Small spaces are generally less than 10,000 square feet, or 100'x100'. Medium spaces are generally up to about an acre in size, and large spaces are more than an acre. This program is based on the American Planning Association's Great Places in America Program (www,Ulannina.org/greatolaca,Z). Who Should Apply? All are welcome to apply. Examples include cities, counties, towns, community/neighborhood groups, chambers of commerce, and planning professionals. Great Gathering Space Awards Criteria. Great spaces must: 1. Be located in Washington State and may be within a town, city, county, or tribal land. 2. Be mostly outdoors and open to the public and free of charge at least 12 hours a day. 3. Include a variety of functional attributes that encourage human contact and may have social activity for all age groups. Larger spaces are expected to include a wider variety of such attributes. 4. Should feature definable boundaries while having good linkages to surrounding uses and areas. X 5. Incorporate design elements and architectural features that are visually interesting and contribute to the use and enjoyment of the space. NOMINATION FORM Name of Gathering Town Square Park Space Name of Jurisdiction City of Federal Way, King County, WA Brian Davis, Community Development Director Contact Person/Title Steve Ikerd, Deputy Parks & Recreation Leila Willou hb -Oakes Associate Planner Phone and Email P: 253-835-2612 E: Brian.Davis@city_offederalway.com_ 253-835-6911 Steve. I kerdI 253-835-2644 h - f I Submittals will be evaluated by a committee including academics and APA WA/PAW chapter members. Winners will be announced at the Fall Washington APA chapter conference in Spokane (October 4-5). Questions? NOMINATION STATEMENT — A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT (50 words or less) Briefly describe the gathering space and its context. Located in the city center, Town Square Park is the "beating heart" of the community. The 4-acre site is connected to public buildings, regional transit and redevelopment parcels. -Accessed by seniors and families, it is a major city investment in public space in anticipation of a 2024 light rail station 2024. MEETING THE AWARDS CRITERIA (this page and up to four additional pages, including graphics) Tell us why you think this gathering space meets the five award criteria on the previous page. Please include photos supportive of the criteria (within the page limit). Links to supportive websites or documents might be useful as background information. Please find supporting documentation attached. 1) Cover Letter w/ Award Criteria evaluation (1 % pages) 2) Nomination Pamphlets- Photos/Town Square Park Details (3 pages) Contact Hiller West, APA Co -Chair at: h.west(cbco.island.wa.us or 360-678-7814 or Lloyd Skinner at LlovdsDes(a)amail.com or 206-919-5090 Federal Way Town Square Park is nearly 4-acres of active and passive recreation space open to all abilities and ages with free parking for our 97,000 residents, and much welcome visitors! CONVIENIENT 31600 Pete von Reichbauer Way S. Federal Way WA OPEN -CLOSE !U. Dawn until dusk, everyday! PHYSICAL CONWRE�T10N 5s Federal Way Transit Center Performing Arts & Event Center Restaurants, shops and senior housing FREE COMMUNITY cl1,fNrqv�AMM Movies in the Park Music in the Park Holiday Tree Lighting LOW IMPACT DEVELOPMENT 1;WJSTAJNAB1L1T% Green -roof Raingarden Pacific NW Plantings Public Education Tours Town Square Park Town re Park Town Square Park Prior to Construction (Former site of a vacant movie theater) Opening Day 7/9/16 Great Gathering Space Features — Town Square Park; • Downtown Community Park is open to all abilities and • 3 full service restrooms with hot and cold water. ages from dawn to dusk at no charge and free parking. . Large covered picnic shelter open to the public and • Nearly 4 acres of active recreation and passive also has the ability to be reserved for special group settings with trees, great lawn and views of Mt. Rainier. events at a reasonable rate. • Large gathering plaza for special events. • Playground that accommodates all abilities and ages with several specialized features such as a 66' ZipKrooz two-way track ride, Oodle dish swing and a unique climbing Explorer Dome structure. • Playground is surrounded on 2 sides with a high existing retaining wall which adds an extra security measure and safety to the setting. • Water feature that serves as an active spray park during the day and a lit water fountain at night. • Large-scale outdoor chess board. • Two outdoor basketball courts with one court rim at standard height and the other at a lower height for young children. • LID funded green initiative measures that were included in the development and .construction of the park include: Pervious concrete loop walking path, pervious plaza with a special paver system. Restroom and picnic shelter have green roofs, large rain garden for filtering the surface water. Recycling containers and interpretive signs for education opportunities to teach and promote many forms of green initiatives. • Site of Community free gatherings such as: Music in the Park, Movies in the Park, Holiday Lighting event, etc. CITY OF Federal Way Leila Willoughby -Oakes From: Bob Bengford <BobB@makersarch.com> Sent: Monday, September 24, 2018 10:21 AM To: Steve Ikerd; Leila Willoughby -Oakes; Brian Davis Subject: APA Great Places Award Announcements Steve, Leila, and Brian, We were excited to receive twenty nominations for APA Washington's Great Gathering Places Award this year, including yours for the Town Square Park. This resulted in some very good competition between some wonderful gathering spaces. While Federal Way Town Square park wasn't the large place category winner, committee members felt that the park certainly had the potential to win such an award in the future once downtown's context evolves around the space. We want to again thank you for submitting and it's great to see how Federal Way's downtown evolving! The winners included: Great Gathering Spaces (small): Second Street Plaza, Langley Great Gathering Spaces (large): Eagle Harbor Waterfront Park, Bainbridge island For the mid -sized space, we ended up awarding two Seattle spaces that ended in a virtual tie: Great Gathering Spaces (medium): Hing Hay Park, Seattle Great Gathering Spaces (medium): Pike Place Marketfront, Seattle We will be announcing these winners at the APA Washington conference in Spokane on Friday October 5 at 12:10 with the Lunch/Annual Meeting/Awards Program, but we wanted to send out an email to you thanking you for submitting the award. Again, while the park didn't win this award, it looks like it's already a winner for the community and is going to get even better as the area develops around it. Bob Bengford, AICP Partner MAKERS architecture and urban design LLP 500 Union St, Suite 700, Seattle WA 98101 Tel 206 652 5080 www.makersarch.com MAKERS is a certified women -owned small business (Federal WOSB & Washington WBE/DBE). Great Neighborhoods in Washington State Nomination Form I 1 Great Places in Washington MW Awards Program An awards program co -sponsored by the Washington Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA WA) and the Planning Association of Washington (PAW) Nominations Due: July 16 Please send a digital copy to hi n- and a hard copy to Washington Chapter American Planning Association 2150 N 107rh Street Ste 205, Seattle, WA 98133 postmarked by July 16. Submittals are limited to six pages total (including this cover page). The 2018 Great Places in Washington Awards program will recognize Great Gathering Spaces in Washington State. Awards this year will be given to three different gathering spaces based on their relative size. Small spaces are generally less than 10,000 square feet, or 100'x100'. Medium spaces are generally up to about an acre in size, and large spaces are more than an acre. This program is based on the American Planning Association's Great Places in America Program ( ww, plan n i nr I ). Who Should Apply? All are welcome to apply. Examples include cities, counties, towns, community/neighborhood groups, chambers of commerce, and planning professionals. Great Gathering Space Hwaras Lraeria: Great spaces must: 10 1. Be located in Washington State and may be within a town, city, county, or tribal land. 2. Be mostly outdoors and open to the public and free of charge at least 12 hours a day. 3. Include a variety of functional attributes that encourage human contact and may have social activity for all age groups. Larger spaces are expected to include a wider variety of such attributes. 4. Should feature definable boundaries while having good linkages to surrounding uses and areas. X Incorporate design elements and architectural features that are visually interesting and contribute to the use and enjoyment of the space. NOMINATION FORM Name of Gathering Town Square Park Space Name of Jurisdiction City of Federal Way, King County, WA Contact Person/Title Tim Johnson, Economic Development Director Steve Ikerd, Deputy Parks & Recreation Leila Willoughby -Oakes, Associate Planner Phone and Email P: 253-835-2412 E:Tja,1ohn_san('0cityoffederalway.com 253-835-6911 Steve. Ikerd(Mcityoffederaluyay.com 253-835-2644 Lelia.Willouahbv-Qakes(&cityoffederalway.com Submittals will be evaluated by a committee including academics and APA WA/PAW chapter members. Winners will be announced at the Fall Washington APA chapter conference in Spokane (October 4-5). NOMINATION STATEMENT— A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT (5o words or less) Briefly describe the gathering space and its context. Located in the city center, Town Square Park is the "beating heart" of the community. The 4- acre site is connected to public buildings, regional transit and redevelopment parcels. Accessed by seniors and families, it is a major city investment in public space in anticipation of a light rail station in 2024. MEETING THE AWARDS CRITERIA (this page and up to four additional pages, including graphics) Tell us why you think this gathering space meets the five award criteria on the previous page. Please include photos supportive of the criteria (within the page limit). Links to supportive websites or documents might be useful as background information. Please find supporting documentation attached. 1) Cover Letter 2) Five Award Criteria Discussion 3) Photos/Websites Contact Hiller West, APA Co -Chair at: h.west(@co.island.wa.us or 360-678-7814 or Lloyd Skinner at Llovdsoes(@omail.com or 206-919-5090 , Town Square Park Town Square Park Prior to Construction (Former site of a vacant movie theater) Opening Day 7/9/16 Great Gathering Space Features — Town Square Park: • Downtown Community Park is open to all abilities and • 3 full service restrooms with hot and cold water. ages from dawn to dusk at no charge and free parking. . Large covered picnic shelter open to the public and • Nearly 4 acres of active recreation and passive also has the ability to be reserved for special group settings with trees, great lawn and views of Mt. Rainier events at a reasonable rate. • Large gathering plaza for special events. • Playground that accommodates all abilities and ages with several specialized features such as a 66' ZipKrooz two-way track ride, Oodle dish swing and a unique climbing Explorer Dome structure. • Playground is surrounded on 2 sides with a high existing retaining wall which adds an extra security measure and safety to the setting. • Water feature that serves as an active spray park during the day and a lit water fountain at night. • Large-scale outdoor chess board. • Two outdoor basketball courts with one court rim at standard height and the other at a lower height for young children. • LID funded green initiative measures that were included in the development and construction of the park include: Pervious concrete loop walking path, pervious plaza with a special paver system. Restroom and picnic shelter have green roofs, large rain garden for filtering the surface water. Recycling containers and interpretive signs for education opportunities to teach and promote many forms of green initiatives. • Site of Community free gatherings such as: Music in the Park, Movies in the Park, Holiday Lighting event, etc. CITY OF .� Federal Way