Taylor Siefker Williams Design Group worked with the Kennedy King Memorial Initiative to create a plan for gateway enhancements to the Kennedy King Park and further highlight the “Landmark for Peace” sculpture that’s a centerpiece of the park. The design team was charged with engaging the local neighborhood community by creating a series of outreach touch points. The touch points included social media posts, local restaurant flyers, and outreach during neighborhood events. These touch points were used to gauge interest in the project as well as brainstorm conceptual ideas for the gateway features.

The primary touch point took place at the Kennedy King Neighborhood’s annual Neighborhood Block Party event. The team facilitated an event booth during the event at Martin Luther King Jr. Park. The event was well attended, receiving comments, opinions, and input from the community that will be used to guide and inform the direction of the conceptual gateway design. Additional outreach was facilitated at Center for Inquiry 27 (CFI), which engaged and educated students on the importance of the park and memorial. It also gave them an opportunity to describe what their vision of a gateway.

As a result of this feedback, conceptual plans identified key gateway design elements and design features as well as locations for secondary gateway markers to both enhance the park experience and promote local neighborhood identity.