A new Peace Park design is advancing toward approval, a member of the State Street Design Oversight Committee said Thursday.
\There's uniform support everywhere,"" Ted Crabb said of the latest design to refurbish Lisa Link Peace Park located in the 400 block of State Street.
The new design for the park includes more green space, two bathrooms, a welcome center and an amphitheater.
Peace Park has developed a bad reputation in recent years, and the city's plan to redesign State Street has mobilized support to replace the original park design.
""All of State Street is being rethought and sometimes you have to admit when you've made a mistake,"" said Patricia Elson, a member of the State Street Design Oversight Committee. ""A lot of people think the original design for this park was an urban design mistake. It wasn't designed well enough to attract people there.""
A report the oversight committee received from The Lisa Link Peace Park Advisory Committee lists activities in Peace Park. The new design aims to avoid including drug related activity, fighting and destroying flowers.
According to the report, the new design also aims to reduce the number of people who walk through the park without stopping, walk by the park without entering or walk across State Street to avoid the park.
Elson said the new design's staffed welcoming center will draw people off the sidewalk and into the park.
""What they want to do is have a presence there and have literature, maps and stuff like that,"" Elson said. ""People are more apt to come to an urban park if there's an official presence. If people are visiting Madison and they're strolling down State Street, what a natural place to ask a question.""
