ANN ARBOR, MI – A small dome has popped up on the city-owned Library Lot downtown, turning the heads of curious passersby.

What is it for?

It’s called a DecaDome and it’s part of the city’s outreach efforts to plan a future urban park and civic center commons on the Fifth Avenue site, the parking lot next to the downtown library.

Ann Arbor residents are encouraged to stop by the dome any time between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. daily this week and share ideas for a future park/commons to be called the Center of the City.

The concept was approved by voters a year ago, but what exactly it will entail remains for the community to decide.

“We’re asking people what they think would be beautiful and inspiring on this piece of public land,” said Ann Arbor resident Alan Haber, a member of the city’s Center of the City Task Force.

Eric Lipson, a park/commons proponent and owner of the company behind DecaDome, worked with his team to set up the dome Sunday, Nov. 3. The city has permitted it to remain until next weekend.

“See, it’s already sparking a little interest,” Lipson said of the onlookers who stopped to check it out.

The city is renting the dome from Lipson, a former city planning commissioner who owns NewHouse Research and Design.

Haber previously proposed setting up a DecaDome for three months, which was estimated to cost the city nearly $9,000 between rental fees, staffing and other costs.

With volunteers running it and the duration shortened, the city estimates the one-week event will cost about $500. Haber said he’d still like to see it go longer, depending on how this week goes.

DecaDomes have been used for temporary shelter and disaster-relief housing around the world from San Francisco and Seattle to Bangladesh and Haiti, Lipson said.

The dome on the Library Lot, which takes up about one parking space, is comprised of two-inch-thick, aluminum-skin, foam-core panels. It has 10 sides, hence the name DecaDome.

This week, Lipson is calling it the “Idea Pod” and encouraging residents to come “imagine a park.”

“We’re going to be soliciting from people who use this area what they think the best use of the Library Lot would be,” he said.

“There’s a lot of ideas that people have for this lot. Some people think it should have a skating rink. Some people think it should be the new site of a public library.”

When voters approved the park/commons concept in November 2018, it halted the city’s plan to sell the lot for $10 million to a private developer proposing a 17-story high-rise and plaza. The city planned to put at least half the sale proceeds toward affordable housing.

The Center of the City Task Force is now working to make recommendations by February on options for implementing the public park/commons idea, which could include a civic building.

Some have suggested that could include a new downtown library, while a park could be created where the library now stands.

There’s no consensus plan yet, and cost estimates and funding still need to be identified for any project that might happen.

In addition to the dome outreach, the task force is inviting residents to stop by the downtown library to learn more and share ideas at a community open house from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6.

“For those who can’t make it to Bob Dylan, this is the other big event in Ann Arbor on Wednesday evening,” Haber said, referring to the folk singer’s performance at Hill Auditorium that same night.

Read more stories about the Library Lot and park/commons idea.