At a special listening session hosted by the National Park Service, about 175 New Yorkers came to the site where George Washington was first inaugurated, Federal Hall, to offer ideas on how America’s national parks should best be preserved and enjoyed. Park Rangers and staff in neatly pressed green and gray uniforms listened and took notes.

The event Tuesday evening was held in connection with President Bush’s proposal to strengthen the national parks by the National Parks Service’s 100th birthday in 2016.

“We hope to get a sense of what the public is passionate about,” the commissioner of the National Parks of New York Harbor, Maria Burks, told The New York Sun. Ms. Burks said one suggestion she heard at the session was that one of the 390 parks in the national park system, Federal Hall National Memorial, should be more visible in welcoming the public to enter off the street.

Above the main floor, simultaneous brainstorming clusters were in session. At one such grouping, the discussion addressed hopes and expectations for the parks. A resident of Westchester County, Chris Workman, said national parks should offer opportunities for critical thinking, not just have a plaque on a building.

Others attendees suggested starting a Shakespeare theater or developing an academy devoted to cricket.

Downstairs on an easel, intriguing ideas were listed, such as podcasts by park rangers or a checkoff box to donate to the National Parks Service on federal tax forms.

A volunteer at the African Burial Ground, T. Rasul Murray, said the evening was a great opportunity for exchange, but added, “the proof is in the pudding.”