You could soon see more parking spots turn into public green spaces and parks in Nashville. On Friday, the city took in an international design event called PARK(Ing) Day.
Seventy-five parking spots around the city were turned into little public parks called "parklets."
Event organizers say it’s all about creating more greenspace in the city, and also about promoting creativity in public places.
“The theme of our 'parklet,' our public space, is the importance of water,” said Hunter Moss.
Moss is a part of the Barge Design Solutions team and like many teams, their parklet adopted a cause.
“The way we work, the way we hang out with the kids at home, we use water a lot. We wash dishes at home, we water our lawns, the way we do life. We want to bring awareness to that because we take that for granted, said Moss.
More than 50 teams made up of businesses and organizations are competing for the best parking spot makeover.
“We’re a really small company of five people and so we thought this was a great opportunity to reach back into the community and bring awareness about our brand,” said Jackie Myers with Beautiac.
A parking spot is just 160 square feet, but Nashville Mayor David Briley believes that space can make a big difference.
He used today’s event to roll out a new project that will allow local businesses to lease two parking spaces in front of their store front to create a more long term public space.
“It’s our obligation as we do grow and as residents of Nashville to make sure that as we do grow, we build great spaces for people to live their lives, get out of their cars where they want to and be able to move around in a more pedestrian friendly environment,” said Briley.
Nashville Civic Design Center hosts "PARK(Ing) Day" to show how parking spots can be used for creative purposes.
“We do this to draw attention to the need for more public space in urban areas like downtown and to show that you can do it in a small space like a parking spot,” said Nashville Civic Design Center Design Director Ron Yearwood.
Parking spot makeovers ranged from unique architectural designs to juggling demonstrations.
Each parking spot had a text code for people to vote for their favorite parklet and next week, the Nashville Civic Design Center will award a Golden Traffic Cone to the winner.
