Depot Park, Phases 1 & 2

Challenge

• Provide space for recreation and events for both downtown and the city at-large.
• Promote downtown redevelopment and foster the city’s economic vitality.
• Maintain and support high water quality standards for Sweetwater Creek. 
• Serve as a model for brownfield site remediation and high-quality urban parks in Gainesville.
• Maintain and revitalize the history and culture of local archaeology, flora, and industry.
• Help to create a pedestrian-friendly environment in downtown Gainesville and enhance the interconnection and walkability of streets for neighbors. 

• Before project construction, over 40 million gallons of contaminated groundwater were processed through sand filters and activated carbon and discharged, and soil was excavated to a depth of 50 ft with over 147,000 tons of contaminated soil removed and transported to a certified landfill for disposal.
• The park’s stormwater treatment system consists of 2 trash traps, 2 large forebays, a braided stream, and 2 ponds of about 1.2 acres and 5.6 acres. The system is connected to previously existing marshes to capture and treat runoff from approximately 89 acres of downtown Gainesville before it flows into Sweetwater Creek and onward to Paynes Prairie.
• A pedestrian system consisting of more than a mile of trails, pathways, and a 20-ft-wide promenade with overlooks accommodate daily recreational use and events. This pedestrian system connects to the 16-mile Gainesville-Hawthorne state trail which runs through a city park, a state park, and other local and state conservation lands.
• A 1-acre playground accommodates children of all abilities and reflects local history and culture. An ADA-compliant play train harkens back to the site’s history as a train depot, a smokestack climber is a miniaturized version of the recently demolished Gainesville Regional Utilities smokestack, replicas of invasive air potato vines teach children about non-native plants, and climbing domes evoke Native American mud dwellings. 
• The Blue Grotto features a splash pad inspired by the underground caverns of Central Florida. The area also has water cannons, waterfalls, ground jets, and hidden fossils.
• Over 20 acres of natural and manmade wetlands provide habitat for wildlife such as birds and amphibians and increase the public’s access to nature and green space in the city. Wetland boardwalks allow visitors to enter the area without disturbing it.
• The 6,000-sf historic depot building was renovated and converted into a small market, an outdoor cafe, and event spaces. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and certified by U.S. Green Building Council LEED Gold standards. Prominent features include energy-efficient lighting and rain barrels that capture rainwater from the roof’s copper gutters.
• Native tree species including red maple (Acer rubrum ‘Autumn Flame’), American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana), redbud (Cercis canadensis), southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), southern live oak (Quercus Virginiana), bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), winged elm (Ulmus alata), and cabbage palmetto (Sabal palmetto), as well as native shrub species including saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) and coontie (Zamia floridana) make up a landscape with low maintenance demands.
• A series of features make Depot Park easy for visitors to arrive using eco-friendly modes of transportation. These include the Downtown Regional Transit System station, which brings passengers from 19 different bus routes; the Depot Avenue trail and the Gainesville-Hawthorne trail for bikes; the newly-redeveloped Depot Avenue streetscape with wide sidewalks, palm trees and bright lighting to provide an inviting pedestrian experience; and the redevelopment of the SW 5th Avenue streetscape, which adds a sidewalk on the north side of SW 5th Ave as well as neighborhood gateways to improve connectivity, safety, and identity around Depot Park.
• The Gainesville Share the Road Memorial, which is made up of six rammed earth sculptures, was built to commemorate 2 fallen and 4 injured cyclists that were struck by a distracted driver in 1996 and communicates how the bicycle safety movement in Gainesville began.
• The 21,000-sf CADE Museum for Creativity & Invention is located in Depot Park.

• Though the response to Depot Park has been mainly positive, issues with insufficient parking and lack of shade have repeatedly come up. However, thanks to projects in the surrounding area on South Main Street and in the Power District, parking issues will soon be resolved with additional parking near the site. The City of Gainesville added shade structures to the playground, and as trees mature, they are anticipated to add shade and increase comfort in the park during the hot summer months.
• The proposed Phase III includes an amphitheater. However, the construction of the amphitheater was postponed because 1) public has been enjoying the flexible grassy mounds, and 2) the residents living to the east of the park had complained about the potential for noise during large music events.
• In a survey of 325 park visitors, 122 provided suggestions for park improvements. Adding shade (21.3%), water fountains (12.3%), and parking (7.4%), and offering more food choices and lowering food prices (5.7%) were most suggested. Other suggestions for the park include designing more space for different types of activities, adding seats and tables, increasing facilities and activities for young children, increasing dog clean-up services and dog parks, adding lights, and setting mile markers for trails.
• Due to the brownfield nature and historic value of the site, means and methods for constructability and park safety raised heated discussions at every turn during construction. A third-party contractor was hired to resolve disputes between the City of Gainesville and the original contractor over the construction of the Phase II pond area, and mitigate construction issues for oversights that occurred. The third party helped to smooth project completion. 

Pedestrian bridge: CONTECH Engineering Solution, LLC
Yard drain: Del Zotto Products, Ocala, FL
Parc Vue bench: Landscape Forms, Inc.
Chase Park trash + recycle receptacles: Landscape Forms, Inc.
Ornamental wire fence: Jerith Patriot 
Picnic table: ANOVA Furnishings
Chase park benches: Landscape Forms, Inc.
Concrete benches: custom by contractor
Play equipment: Landscape Structures, Inc.
Train, Cozy Zone, Oodle Swing, stepper, custom tree climber, custom power tower, custom power line climber, lookout rock climber, small boulders, logs balance beams, Log - Y-shaped, half pipe tunnels, custom pipe climber, swing-bucket seat, swing-2-5 harness, swing 5-12 plus 2 toddler swings, sandbox digger accessible, sandbox digger, recycled rubber curbing, fossil digs - creative play area, saddle spinners, log stepper, mushroom steppers, interactive water fountain 
Sandbox, custom “flat car” with railroad wheels on sides: custom by contractor
Green hand cistern pump: Lehman’s
Ultra playground grass- green/blue: ForeverLawn

Project Team

Client: City of Gainesville
Landscape Architect:  JOLA Inc.
Landscape Architect: IBI Placemaking (formerly CRJA-IBI Group)
Engineering: JBrown Professional Group
Contractor: Oelrich Construction
Owner: City of Gainesville
Manager: Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency
Partner: Gainesville Regional Utilities, City of Gainesville Public Works

Role of the Landscape Architect

One of the landscape architects (JOLA, Inc.) was responsible for the layout and design of the park, playground, hardscape, signage, planting and irrigation. The other (IBI Placemaking, formerly CRJA-IBI Group) developed design and technical standards, including specification recommendations, engineering requirements, dimensions, patterns, materials, utilities and accessibility provisions. This firm also developed the conceptual design of the CADE Museum of Creativity & Invention.