Renewed for Another Season

PARK(ing) Day 2024 Recap

By Veronica Foster, Communications + Advocacy Manager

5 min read From ideation to implementation, PARK(ing) Day 2024 was ambitious, but the parklet was completed and the community came out in droves to celebrate. Read the recap for more details.

If you missed PARK(ing) Day last weekend, you should go mark off the third weekend of September 2025 now so you don’t miss it again! 2023's Block Party on Wilburn Street felt like our pilot episode, where we were approved for further filming, but we hadn't yet figured out what this new iteration of PARK(ing) Day would be long term. Following the reveal of Parklet #2 for Nashville, it is clear that our reclaiming public space efforts should be renewed for another season. Quality, identifiable design in our right-of-way should be a big priority for our local economies across the city.

When you see the permanent parklet for Wilburn Street Tavern, it feels like it belongs there. With the corrugated metal cladding and the funky mountain pergola, the design is well-integrated with the business's aesthetic and the East Nashville grit. On the other hand, the parklet design for Bagelshop flows seamlessly into the modern design of the building behind it. It gives a nod to the shape of a bagel in the feature wall and presents a soft yet natural color palette juxtaposed with exposed concrete. This vision of the parklet makes perfect sense for what District 15 Councilmember Jeff Gregg referred to positively as the “New Donelson.”

With two excellent examples of what good design can do for both a local business and a streetscape, we can only hope that more community members will be rallying to apply for a Parklet Permit through the Nashville Department of Transportation (NDOT).

Bagelshop parklet by Katie Pennington of EOA Architects and Hardaway Construction on PARK(ing) Day 2024 [Photo by: Andrew Keithly Photography]

The 2nd Permanent Parklet in Nashville is a Big Deal

What’s the big deal?

From Left: Brian Murdock (Hardaway), Katie Pennington (EOA Architects), Mayor Freddie O'Connell, Kayla and Max Palmer (Bagelshop), Katie Wainman (Hardaway), Tracey Ford (EOA Architects), and Veronica Foster (Civic Design Center) [Photo by: Beth Gwinn]

To name a few reasons… pro-bono design and construction, dedicated community partners, taking a chance on a brand new business, working through a complicated new permit portal, and launching a brand new style of PARK(ing) Day on a much busier road.

In the second year of our Parklet Design Competition, we had over a dozen submissions from architects and designers who spent time and energy reviewing the brief to create something unique for our partner business, Bagelshop, located in Donelson Plaza. The winner of the competition was Katie Pennington of EOA Architects who is only in her first year out of architecture school. It is rare that a new professional gets to see their design fully built exactly how they imagined it, but the judging committee for the design competition felt that her vision was the most deserving. We are so proud to see Katie’s incredible pro-bono design come to life.

The parklet design would still just be a dream without a dedicated local construction company willing to donate thousands of dollars of labor and materials to build it. Hardaway Construction is celebrating their 100th Anniversary this year and chose to give back to their home city by partnering with us for the Parklet Design Competition. Brian Murdock, Executive Vice President, sat on the judging committee for the competition, and provided detailed constructibility feedback to the winning designer. He was patient with our very narrow timeline, and put together a team to build the structure in less than 2 weeks.

We wouldn’t be allowed to have a parklet in the right-of-way if it weren’t for the existence of NDOT’s Parklet Permit as well as Bagelshop’s commitment to maintain the structure and renew the permit for as long as they exist. After the Parklet Permit system changed between September 2023 and May 2024, our partners at NDOT helped ensure that nothing fell through the cracks with the new E-Permit portal. Walk and Bike Manager, Anna Dearman, was also essential to verifying the selection for the Parklet Design Competition would meet the guidelines around visibility. With extra space in our designated parklet area in Donelson, we asked if NDOT would be willing to install bike racks in the street, and Anna was quick to support this effort and make it happen.

Max and Kayla Palmer, owners of Bagelshop, were excellent partners in this process. Their enthusiasm never waned through the challenges, even when I would pop over during service to walk through a permit issue or a PARK(ing) Day request. They even decided to release a special blend of coffee in honor of the parklet to celebrate the occasion and donate a portion of the proceeds to the local beautification effort, the Donelson Gateway Project.

PARK(ing) Day is now a hyperlocal Event celebrating reclaiming public space

In the last 13 years since our former Design Director, Ron Yearwood, brought PARK(ing) Day to Nashville, the event has changed a lot. The Design Center spent many years hosting hundreds of pop-up parks, art installations, and interactive experiences on the third weekend in September. We were successful in advocating for expanded sidewalks on both Broadway and 2nd Avenue. We helped save Church Street Park and demonstrate the value in activating public space. However, when we helped the Councilmember Sean Parker and NDOT make the Parklet Permit program a reality, pop-up parklets didn’t feel like enough. In transitioning to the Parklet Design Competition and utilizing our amazing partners, we threw all of our energy into actionable change. While this may only mean 1 parklet per year for the Civic Design Center, it means lasting community space for Nashville neighborhoods.

PARK(ing) Day on Old Lebanon Rd in Donelson was the perfect celebration of the community that will enjoy the new parklet for years to come. With Bagelshop and the Donelson Hermitage Chamber’s help, we recruited over 20 hyperlocal vendors, like PHAT BITES and Yoga Muttz, to share the street with us. With the support of our sponsor, Holladay Properties, we could honor Donelson’s roots in music by inviting musicians to play, including Sean McNamara and his band, Nosey Flynn, that play weekly just a few blocks from the parklet at McNamara’s Irish Pub & Restaurant. When Sean was at the mic, he shared that when he opened his business many years ago, it was just McNamara’s and PHAT BITES. People thought he was crazy for opening a business in Donelson, but now that the community has grown so much, he is happy to welcome newcomers like Bagelshop.

When all of our speakers took the stage, from Councilmember Jeff Gregg and Terri Williams Nutter to Mayor Freddie O’Connell, they shared that PARK(ing) Day Block Party 2024 was a true embodiment of Donelson. That was the vision we were trying to create for this new iteration of the event, and it brought tears to my eyes to see its success.

Of the Design Center, Mayor O’Connell highlighted our history recognizing innovative design that supports communities, supports businesses, and supports people in this city. He shared, “with not just doing things the same old way we have always done them without a reason to do better, [the Civic Design Center has] shown us what better looks like for 13 years.”

Drone shot of PARK(ing) Day Block Party 2024 featuring Old Lebanon Rd closed to vehicular traffic [Photo by: Andrew Keithly Photography]