What could revitalized Hance Park look like?
Phoenix is inching closer to a grand revamp of Margaret T. Hance Park, which sits atop Interstate 10’s Deck Park Tunnel in downtown Phoenix.
Hance Park is home to Burton Barr Library, the Japanese Friendship Garden, the Irish Cultural Center and McClelland Irish Library, and the Phoenix Center for the Arts. It has played host to major events like the McDowell Mountain Music Festival and the March Madness Music Festival.
But many believe the park has yet to reach its full potential. Outside of major events, the park is underutilized.
For years, Phoenix and community organizations have tried to revitalize the
32-acre park in hopes of transforming it into Phoenix’s equivalent of Central Park in New York City or Millennium Park in Chicago.
“Every great city has a great park in its downtown. Phoenix is lucky to be able to have 32.5 acres literally in its downtown that’s a blank slate to be able to develop,” Hance Park Conservancy President Tim Sprague said.
Last week, Phoenix took a significant step in the development process, when it released updated design concepts that illustrate what the park could look like after its face-lift.
The renderings feature interactive water features, more trees and shade structures, new playgrounds, a cafe and other modernized amenities.
Phoenix released conceptual renderings of Hance Park several years ago, but the new designs are “more realistic” and show what the city and its partners believe they can accomplish, according to city spokesman Gregg Bach.
Residents can comment on the renderings on Phoenix’s website. Bach said the city will take the feedback and tweak the designs as necessary.
The renderings will also help sell the project to potential donors — the next major hurdle in the revitalization project. The project’s estimated price tag is between $80-100 million, most of which will come from private donations.
“It’s sort of like the chicken and the egg. You sort of need to see what it is before you get the (financial) commitment, but you need the commitment before you can get anything going,” Bach said.
The timeline of the park revitalization project depends on how quickly money is raised, Bach said.
About two years ago, the Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department, Phoenix Community Alliance and Hance Park Conservancy formed the Hance Park Partner Coalition, which will serve as the fundraising arm of the project.
Devney Preuss, executive director of the Phoenix Community Alliance, and Sprague said the group is actively raising money for the park.
Preuss said the coalition is offering sponsorship and naming rights opportunities and accepting other contributions. Preuss said Hance Park is an “important piece of the overall puzzle” in continuing the revitalization of downtown Phoenix.
“The park is one component of making downtown more livable,” Preuss said.
She said that development follows major park projects in other cities. In Phoenix’s case, however, the development around Hance Park came before the park’s revitalization.
Sprague, who is also the principal of development firm Habitat Metro, is responsible for several projects near the park, including Portland on the Park and the FOUND:RE Hotel.
In 2014, 5,900 people lived within a square mile of Hance Park. Today, more than 12,000 people live in the area, Sprague said.
He said the amount of development in the area draws people to the park and makes Hance park “the focal point” in the center city.
“There’s been incredible growth in that area,” he said.
Hance Park is also important to downtown because it is one of the few remaining open spaces in the area, Sprague said.
When Arizona hosted the Super Bowl in 2015, the fan events were held in an empty lot near Talking Stick Resort Arena.
Now, that land is being developed. “This is the last large parcel of land that’s in downtown Phoenix where any type of large activity could take place,” Sprague said.
Andie Abkarian, president of the Roosevelt Action Association, said the Roosevelt Neighborhood’s reaction to the updated design concepts was mostly positive.
She said the neighborhood is excited about the revitalization, but there are some concerns about barriers on the west side of the park that would separate park amenities and the location of some of the major facilities, like the performance venue.
Abkarian, who has lived in the Roosevelt Neighborhood for 20 years, said she wants to make sure the park “maintains its unique position as an in-thecity oasis,” but starts attracting more people to the space.
“It’s very nice the way that it is, but I want the park to continue to grow in popularity and organic uses — more people walking with dogs, playing in the lawns, concerts in summertime,” she said.