'Legacy project': Placemaking initiative seeks ideas for bicentennial park

The Knight Creative Communities Institute (KCCI) has announced the 2024 Community Catalyst placemaking initiative: creating a vision for a downtown bicentennial park in honor of Tallahassee’s 200th anniversary.

To carry out the initiative, the self-nominated, volunteer Community Catalysts will design an innovative, interactive attraction that commemorates our history and celebrates our future.

This team of community volunteers will collaborate with the public, the Office of Mayor John Dailey, the Tallahassee Downtown Improvement Authority, and the Tallahassee chapter of the American Institute of Architects, to design a bicentennial park concept in downtown Tallahassee.

“Tallahassee’s Bicentennial is an exciting time for our community to honor the past while celebrating and embracing the future,” said Mayor John Dailey. “Applicants will have an opportunity to create a legacy project concept that will leave a lasting mark on generations to come in our community.”

The application cycle for the 2024 Community Catalyst program year is open until Oct. 26, 2023.

“This placemaking initiative has great potential to create a lasting community attraction,” said Betsy Couch, executive director of KCCI. “Next year will mark 200 years since the city’s founding, and together, we can shape the city and community it will become. KCCI is proud to be part of this community of doers, dreamers and believers.”

During the project, KCCI’s Community Catalyst team will engage diverse groups — residents, students, businesses, local governments and others — through participatory urban planning. The goal is to create a memorable public place, in the heart of downtown, that will celebrate the city’s past and future in the spirit of the Tallahassee Bicentennial.

KCCI Community Catalysts are change-agents in the Tallahassee community. As part of a self-nomination process, potential catalysts submit applications. A diverse group of applicants from all walks of life are then selected to serve as the year’s “Catalyst Class.” The Catalysts volunteer their time, and with input from KCCI, implement a sense of place project each year.

To learn more and apply, visit kccitallahassee.com.

The 2023 project marks KCCI’s 16th year of strengthening Tallahassee’s identity through placemaking projects that help drive economic vitality and bring community members together. KCCI trains Community Catalysts with placemaking research and case studies from the likes of economist Richard Florida and others.

This research shows that the economic prosperity of a community is directly related to its ability to attract and retain members of the creative sector through the creation of places where people want to connect. KCCI then challenges Catalysts to implement a sense of place project that helps attract and retain the creative class, young professionals and college graduates.

Past KCCI projects include the life-size TLH and urban park near South Monroe, the Art of Box artistic utility boxes at intersections throughout the city, the Gaines Street redevelopment, the Frenchtown Farmers Market, Tallahassee Music Week, the Porch Swing Project, and the amphitheater and Discovery playscape at Cascades Park, among many others.

For information about applying to be a Community Catalyst or to view past KCCI placemaking projects, visit kccitallahassee.com.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: 2024 KCCI project seeks ideas for Tallahassee bicentennial park