What is at stake

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What is at stake?
The National Mall
Mission of the National Park Service conserve
the scenery and the natural and historic objects
and the wild life therein and to provide for the
enjoyment of the same in such a manner and by
such means as will leave them unimpaired for the
enjoyment of future generations.
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Protecting Historic Planning
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Protecting Historic Planning
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The National Mall
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The National Mall
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The National Mall
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The National Mall
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For whom are we planning?
The National Mall
2004 2005 2006
Grand Canyon 4.3 mil 4.4 mil 4.3 mil
Yellowstone 2.8 mil 2.8 mil 2.8 mil
National Mall 24 mil 22.5 mil 24 mil
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Independence Day 1984
July 4th, 1984
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World War II Mem. Dedication 2004
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Million Man March 1995
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What are Demonstrations?

• picketing
• speechmaking
• marching
• holding vigils or religious services
• and all other First Amendment activity engaged in
  by one or more persons

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Too Much Love?
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Too Much Love?
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What is being preserved and enjoyed??
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Developing Alternatives

• Using
• Planning sideboards provided by
  purpose/significance, legislation and
  jurisprudence
• Two studies to examine best practices or
  successful strategies used by others
• Local and National / International Studies
• Served as a basis for workshops with cooperating
  agencies
• Planning principles
• Place making and identity
• Landscape standards
• Events management
• Studies and assessments of current conditions and
  operations
• Landscape condition, park furniture, and soils
  conditions
• Cherry Blossom Festival assessment
• Public comment

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Public Comment

• 5,000 scoping comments on the National Mall Plan
• Top subject matter for comments
• Visions and most important functions
• Improve appearance and grass
• Provide adequate facilities (restrooms, seating,
  walkways)
• Improve information and signage
• Provide welcome center(s)
• Coordinate with others
• Events management

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Learning from others

• Six lessons
• 1. Establish Identity - create place
• Coordinate information, uniforms, signs, park
  furniture
• Help people know where they are and how to find
  their way around

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Learning from others
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Learning from others

• 2. Quality environment important
• High quality materials, details and flowers
  reinforce positive behavior
• Proactively keep it clean and green

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Learning from others

• 3. Educate users
• Develop common vision
• Understand user desires
• Use simple systems to inform users

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Learning from others

• 4. Design for use and maintenance
• Understand how an area will be used and design
  for levels of use
• Provide clear design guidelines and performance
  criteria
• Incorporate practical objectives easy to
  maintain, durable and enduring
• Design circulation to control damage
• Design and provide adequately and well-located
  facilities
• Design to reduce maintenance and think ergonomics
  to protect staff

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Learning from others

• Continued
• Use established landscape standards
• Justifiable
• Help set reasonable budget expectations

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Learning from others

• 5. Plan for Events
• Design for events
• Design surfacing appropriate to level of use
• Less use of living surfaces such as turf
• Design performance and stage areas
• Design events infrastructure
• Design more durable turf areas

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Learning from others

• Continued
• Manage Events
• Develop a strategy
• Strictly and uniformly enforce requirements
• Set limits
• Number, size, location and duration of events
• Identify events objectives and core values
• Provide continuous oversight

Events Strategy
2. Our overall vision for the Parks, which guides
our events strategy, is to try to achieve the
perfect balance, where all understand and value
the Parks, where everyone finds something in the
Parks for them, and where no ones enjoyment of
the Parks is at the unacceptable expense of
others, now or in the future.
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Learning from others

• 6. Staffing
• Model desired behavior from upper management down
• Keeping it clean
• Develop shared expectations
• Ensure staff know desired conditions
• Ensure staff understand design intent
• Use zone or area staffing to foster pride in
  their place
• Determine critical specialized skills
• Examples plumbing if need to operate water
  features, statue preservation, irrigation
  specialists for irrigated turf, horticulturists
• Outsource to focus on the important skills
• Co-locate staff who coordinate work
• Example events and maintenance

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Balancing the National Parks Mission