Along North Boundary Street, a green stretch of lawn spans between the Stryker Center and Williamsburg Regional Library, featuring a trellis, fountain and sculptures — and most recently, sheep-shaped seats.
Called City Square, the space has played host to a handful of annual events — both old and inaugural — such as the Scrumptious Festival, Williamsburg Taste Festival, National Night Out and library programming.
As the lawn has gradually become more and more popular for events and library programming, the city has identified a need to streamline and better organize the process of hosting events at that location.
The answer is simple: Make the space into a public park.
“It just makes sense,” City Manager Andrew Trivette said. “If you observe … the usage of the plaza, it has increased significantly just in the last four months.”
At a City Council meeting last week, Trivette said designating City Square as a public park within the city was more of a “housekeeping” matter.
City Council voted unanimously to name City Square a public park. It also voted unanimously to designate the area as a place where the city manager can issue short-term special event permits.
It’s becoming common to see people picnicking on the lawn in City Square, he added.
Agenda documents for the meeting indicate the park operation will not be altered by the designation, aside from establishing rules for use such as a closing hour.
Trivette said the increase in interest and use of the park prompted the city to evaluate how it handles events there.
Mayor Paul Freiling said issuing special event permits will help keep events from overlapping or the space being double-booked, since it is becoming more popular for both organized and impromptu events. The library has regular programming in the square, including live music on Thursdays in City Square.
“We decided that it would be best if we could regulate it as we do other parks,” Trivette said.
Making the space a public park will also clarify what that space officially is, and allow the city manager to manage events there rather than having to come to City Council for those matters.
“It gives it a structure legally that it doesn’t currently have,” City Attorney Christina Shelton told City Council.
Trivette said he has directed the public works department to make the public area a “show piece” for the city.
City Square recently got small sheep sculptures that can be used for sitting, according to a tweet from the Williamsburg Regional Library.
City Square joins other public city parks such as Waller Mill Park, Quarterpath Park and Kiwanis Park, city spokeswoman Lee Ann Hartmann said.
There are also passive parks like Bicentennial Park, Redoubt Park and College Landing Parks. They don’t have equipment or activities scheduled there, but are public spaces.
