Lot 10 Redevelopment

Background

The Town of Vail is starting the process for designing a new pocket park. The location of the park site is 281 West Meadow Drive. The park site is currently used for staff and accessible parking for the Vail Public Library. It sits between the Dobson Ice Arena and Vail Health with the Evergreen Lodge to the north. West Meadow Drive bisects the site leaving a portion of the property on both side of the street. The site does not include the Middle Creek stream tract. That parcel is owned by the Eagle River Water and Sanitation District. The Town and the District are currently in negotiations to transfer ownership of the parcel to the Town. The attached image illustrates the existing layout of the site.

The Town wants to know how the Vail Community would like to see the site used and what features should be included in the design. Some preliminary suggestions for the park have been made by the adjacent properties. These are as follows:

• Civic Area Plan. The adopted Civic Area Plan says to design and animate this public space to make it an appealing destination along the Town’s primary pedestrian corridor between Vail Village and Lionshead Village. The plan suggests that various alternatives be considered for use of the outdoor space such as a place for public art, whimsical elements like a children’s treehouse, hardscape and landscape improvements, seating areas or a food cart.
• Dobson Ice Arena. Arena management suggests a space with picnic tables outside the ice rink would be beneficial in the summer for skaters, competitors, and families to use between ice sessions, competitions, and games.
• Vail Health. Many health organizations are realizing the benefits for outdoor spaces to promote healing for patients and to reduce stress for health care providers. Vail Health is interested in an outdoor space as a possible Healing Garden on a portion of the site.
• Evergreen Redevelopment. The Evergreen Lodge is scheduled for redevelopment in the next few years. The Evergreen has a pedestrian access easement over the site. There is no designated route or alignment for the access. The developer has proposed elevating a portion of the site to improve access to a landscaped courtyard outside of the hotel. The elevation of the courtyard area is approximately 20 feet higher than the elevation of West Meadow Drive near the park site.