The City of Columbia invites YOU to participate in Columbia’s 8th annual Park(ing) Day!

PARK(ing) Day is an annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public places.   The mission of PARK(ing) Day is to call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat … at least until the meter runs out!

We are excited to announce that the City of Columbia, in partnership with the South Carolina Chapter of the American Society for Landscape Architects and One Columbia for Arts and Culture, is again helping to facilitate Park(ing) Day, a national event that takes place on Friday, September 15th. This event is about reclaiming on-street parking spaces as public space for people, for one day out of the year (10AM- 4PM). Participants design and install temporary elements that can include seating, art, games, plants, etc. to encourage people to interact in the public right-of-way.

It will be fun.

This year, the PARK(ing) Day theme is about the opportunity creative space presents – parks will be “Open for […]” – what will your park be open for on September 15th?  Fun? Bikes? Theater? Music? Poetry? Shade? Jokes? Art? Superheroes?  The possibilities are up to you.

And we want you to join in.

Park(ing) Day is about designing open space that not only attracts but also engages the community through the physical design of the space itself. Your park can be a nice place to sit and read. It can be a place for a sculpture. It can be an outdoor art gallery. It can be a botanical garden. It can foster community dialogue. It can be a picnic area. It just takes a bit of imagination and an application.

How to Par(k)ticipate:

• Find out more, and get the application atcolumbiacompass.org/parklets
• Plan your Park – and remember to identify and incorporate “Open for _________” as part of your design!
• Get the necessary insurance, or if you are an artist or with an arts organization, contact One Columbia ([email protected]or 803-254-5008) for support
• Reserve your meter(s) – meters are first come, first served!https://bit.ly/2023Meters
• Submit the full application by 5pm Friday, August 18th, 2023 (you’ll receive a link to submit the full application after you reserve your meters)

There will be prizes.

This year, we’re holding our third annual Park(ing) Day Design Contest – and up for grabs are a People’s Choice Award and a juried Best Design Award.  Winners get bragging rights, as well as some fun, locally-sourced, prizes.  Based on PARK(ing) Days past, we know the competition will be steep – so bring your A-game!

To learn more about PARK(ing) Day in Columbia, visit https://columbiacompass.org/parklets.  If you have questions regarding PARK(ing) Day, contact Planning and Development Services Department at 803-545-3222 or via email at [email protected].  For information on the international Park(ing) Day movement, see https://www.asla.org/parkingday2023.aspx .