PARK(ing) Day DC: Friday, September 18th, 2009

San Francisco Park(ing) Day, 2006. Photo by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid.

From Justin Young (with editing):

Garden District Saves PARK(ing) Day DC

Washington DC's participation in the international event PARK(ing) Day, has been saved thanks to local garden shop Garden District. The original plan was to turn 4 on-street parking spaces into parks for the day around the city. However, complications with obtaining permits made this plan impossible. (See this entry, "DDOT being narrow-minded and overcautious on Park(ing) Day," from Greater Greater Washington about the debacle. OTOH, if you want to challenge the system challenge the system, and take the space...)

Garden District is in the process of moving to a new location across from its current outpost at 14th and S Street NW. The location was previously an auto shop and includes a large surface parking lot.

The PARK(ing) Day DC team will convert a portion of this lot into a park for the day, between the hours of 11AM and 9PM. This park will be larger than the original 4 spaces combined. Please come by and enjoy the green space with your friends or pet! Listen to music, play games, read a book and enjoy some refreshments.

Park(ing) Day was originally created by Rebar, a San Francisco art and design collective. PARK(ing) Day is an annual, one-day, global event where artists, activists, and citizens collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spots into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public parks.

PARK(ing) Day DC is being organized in Washington, DC by ReadysetDC and F1rst-n-R. ReadysetDC is a blog + collection of creative projects aimed at creating awareness of everything amazing in DC, including urban development, culture + art. We seek to be a source of inspiration + a spark for discussion. F1rst-n-R is the web site of Brandon Schmittling and exists to centralize his activity in Washington, DC and specifically the up-and-coming area known as Bloomingdale.

Garden District is an urban garden center with two shops located minutes to each other providing quality plants, pottery and solutions. We can help you enhance your landscape, start your herb garden or find the right plant for your home or office.