File photo.
The City of Long Beach announced today its launch of an event slated for Monday aimed at garnering resident participation in transforming Harvey Milk Park into an outdoor, public collaborative space geared toward sparking creativity and interaction.
Specifically, the city is hosting an Outdoor Furniture Showcase event at the Park on December 5 from 3:00 to 5:30PM.
The public is encouraged to attend to test and vote on the types of furniture, charging stations and technology solutions proposed for use in the new space, city officials said. Voting will last until Friday, December 16, and will mark the beginning of an 18-month-long co-creation process of finding innovative ways of using public space to bring people together and out of their office.
“This showcase is a great opportunity to not only reimagine the use of the park in a variety of ways but puts Harvey’s legacy into action by bringing people together,” said Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez in a statement.
This furniture showcase is part of a larger Long Beach city initiative, in collaboration with Citymart, aimed at bringing people together in new spaces, city officials said. It’s also part of the Long Beach Innovation Team’s (i-team) process of addressing issues of economic city development and the importance of bringing people and businesses together through public spaces.
The City of Long Beach challenged creative vendors to suggest innovative ideas at making community building more successful within the confines of the city.. Seven finalists were chosen through a Request for Solutions (RFS) to showcase their work during the launch on Monday, including Spain-based company Nerei, Santa Monica’s ping pong table manufacturer James de Wulf, outdoor furnishing company Knoll, Cambridge-based company Soofa, North American public site furniture manufacturer Maglin, Miller Hull and solar energy company NRG.
“This is an exciting opportunity for the community to co-create the future of our public spaces, right here in Harvey Milk Park,” stated John Keisler, i-team director.
This launch was made possible through the funding of $300,000 awarded by the John S. and James L. Foundation, which chose Long Beach as a Knight Cities Challenge winner earlier this year.
Other activities are slated to kick off at Harvey Milk Park next month, including an eat and greet on December 7, from 11:30AM to 2:00PM, a ping pong battle and other games on December 9, from 12:00 to 1:00PM, a coffee and conversation event on December 14, from 8:00 to 10:30AM and the “Legacy of Harvey Milk, an Augmented Reality Project” event on December 15, from 11:30AM to 1:30PM.
“It’s exciting to see how Long Beach is using innovative techniques to generate new ideas that involve the public,” stated Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce. “I’m looking forward to see the public feedback. What a great and creative way of purchasing outdoor furniture.”