5.3 Activity Three - Priority Project Design and Implementation

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Although the Design Team's initial scope of work only included documenting two priority projects through schematic design, PG, The University City District, and the Steering Committee requested that the Tot Lot renovation be taken through all phases of design and implemented as part of Activity Three. Therefore, Activity Three began with the inventory and analysis of existing conditions at the Tot Lot (Appendix 9.8). The Tot Lot was subsequently renamed the "Drexel University*Powelton Village Playground" (Playground) to celebrate the collaborative process. The Design Team met with the Steering and Greening Committees and interviewed additional stakeholders to determine how the Playground should be redesigned. Three alternative schematic designs were presented to the Greening Committee in January 2000 (Appendixes 9.9, 9.10, 9.11). Committee members selected elements from each of the three alternatives that the Design Team incorporated into a Consensus Plan (Appendix 9.12).

Upon approval of the Consensus Plan by the Greening and Steering Committees the Design Team prepared Construction Drawings and Specifications so that installation of the Playground could be completed by June 2000. A full set of the Construction Drawings and Specifications is available at PHS. The Playground Planting Plan, Plant List, and a list of Equipment Manufacturers are located in Appendix 9.13.

A ribbon cutting ceremony and celebration was held on June 6, 2000. The festivities, broadcast on the local news, were well attended by area residents and stakeholders as well as representatives from the Greening and Steering Committees, Drexel University, The William Penn Foundation, PG, and the Design Team. The Powel School choir performed for attendees and several prominent local citizens and project partners gave speeches describing the successful collaboration between Powelton Village and Drexel University.