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Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 10, 2010

CONTACT:   Matt Bach
Dir. of Communications
Michigan Municipal League
(734) 669-6317 or mbach@mml.org

PARK(ing) Day Takes Place Sept. 17 in MI Cities
Global Event to provide temporary public open space – one parking spot at a time

On Friday, Sept. 17, several Michigan cities will be among the global communities to transform parking spots into public parks as a local celebration of PARK(ing) Day. The annual, one-day global event encourages participants to re-think how space is used in cities by temporarily creating public art and mini-parks in metered spots.

“We want to encourage people to think creatively about the possibilities for using space in our cities,” said Sean Mann of Let’s Save Michigan, which is joining with other organizations around the globe to organize and promote the event. “Gardens, parks and playgrounds are so important to healthy, thriving urban communities and this is an opportunity to initiate a public conversation about how we use our public space.”

Artists, activists, and citizens will temporarily transform metered parking spots into miniature public parks for the day in Michigan cities including Ann Arbor, Lansing and Detroit:

- 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, Washington Square and Allegan in downtown Lansing

- 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm, 460 W. Canfield in Detroit

- 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, 118 S. Main Street in downtown Ann Arbor

The original PARK(ing) project in 2005 transformed a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in San Francisco. On Park(ing) Day 2009, 700 parks were created in 140 cities, 21 countries and six continents.

“The phenomenal growth of PARK(ing) Day across the country and the world shows that people are ready to re-shape public space,” said Mann. “More and more people in Lansing are seeing our city as a great place to walk, cycle and enjoy public space with their friends and neighbors. This is a natural next step in place-making.“

Everyone is invited to come enjoy this temporary park — but only until the meter runs out!

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