The parks I went out and identified usage themes:
Alum Springs Park: This one was hard to pick a theme for because it is so big, but I decided on Family/ Recreational because of the playground equipment, open fire grills, and pavilion. A mom and her kids were playing in the stream. A lot of people were walking dogs and rock climbing as well. Another theme that I thought was Environmental/ Natural because of the stream, rocks, and woods. I decided against it because even though there were environmental feature there was not much information about the features. Some historical features that are acknowledged in the park are the site of an ice house and Gristmill Race.
Cossey Botanical Park: This parks theme was relatively easy, I decided that it was landscape/ garden because there is a community garden and a trail in open space with landscaped trees. Another feature of the park is the urban fishing waters where a lot of people were fishing. Fishing is a recreational activity,but the design of the park, to me, was more toward a garden park.
Kenmore Park: Family/Recreational, there are at least eight tennis nets and a playground where families with young kids were playing. The other side of the park is open space where 2 guys were throwing a frisbee.
Old Mill Park: This park is located on the riverfront and there is three pavilions and this one doesn’t seem I am going to say this park is family/recreation. There was also 3 different were three different pavilions and a playground, and benches with park grills. People were out walking dogs. there is also a huge open space and there was two goals on one side.
City Dock- Recreational/ Family, there was a family out eating pizza on the dock and boating ramps. I noticed too that there were people who just sat in their car.
Hurkamp Park. Events/Cultural/Arts. From previous knowledge I know that this park is where they hold the farmers market and they also have concerts here as well when it is warmer. When I observed there were people sitting on the benches the fountain is drained. I saw a sign where the park used to be a cemetery also.
It is hard to categorize park by theme because there was no clear definition of what made each theme. But I found that it was easier to make a call by looking at the equipment; playgrounds, pavilions, tennis courts, etc.