Create West Virginia

A group of West Virginia architects who are passionate about community development are positioning the state in the vanguard of creating livable, economically sustainable communities.

They are so committed, in fact, that they are offering services free of charge.

Ed Tucker, Thom Worlledge, and Phoebe Patton Randolph, members of the state chapter of the American Institute of Architects, AIA, established the nation’s first Livable Communities Committee in late 2004. Their goal was to create a community design assistance program to address issues of livability—traffic “calming,” pedestrian safety, and aesthetics.

Fairmont’s Southside

When the committee sent its introductory letter statewide, Main Street Fairmont, the Fairmont Community Development Partnership, and a group of business and property owners already had begun meeting to discuss ways to revitalize a mixed-use neighborhood known as Southside.

The Fairmont Avenue area had been neglected for years despite being considered a keystone between downtown and the commercial district.

Vera Sansalone, executive director of Main Street Fairmont, said the group had undertaken some small streetscape projects but was looking for a way to refine the neighborhood’s identity.

When Sansalone got word from city planner Jay Rogers that the West Virginia AIA was interested in making Southside the pioneer project for its Livable Communities Committee, she jumped on the opportunity.

A partnership between public and private interests, the collaboration included the Community Development group, Main Street, and Fairmont business owners, residents and tenants.

“It was a huge learning curve, but the response and community involvement was fantastic,” Randolph says.

The AIA committee’s four-step process includes a preliminary walking tour of a targeted area followed by a town hall-style meeting. One Saturday afternoon the committee walked the streets of the Southside neighborhood. Community members voiced their concerns and desires, and the architects began brainstorming ways to incorporate concepts of livability into their design.

Together they noticed several historic buildings that were not part of the original plan and decided to expand the project boundaries.

Randolph points out the advantage of bringing in architects from around the state who are generally unfamiliar with the territory. “There is a benefit in looking at an area with a fresh set of eyes,” she says. “It’s often easier for an outsider to see the potential of a community.”

Immediately after the walking tour, the architects began sketching.

The first recommendations addressed the community’s traffic safety where the street is as wide as five lanes. Traffic “calming” strategies included reducing the number of lanes to provide shorter pedestrian crosswalks, adding medians with landscaping, and adding parallel parking on both sides of the street. To encourage patronage and new business development, the committee suggested that businesses share the same parking spaces at different times of day.

The final stage was a presentation of recommendations, concepts and renderings to the community for feedback.

The plans were used in an application to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh’s “Blueprint Communities Program.” In 2008, the Southside neighborhood group was one of 10 West Virginia communities to receive $20,000 in training and education to help implement their revitalization plan. An eight-member citizen group was chosen to attend the training sessions and will lead the process of putting the plan into action.

“The progress we’ve made so far has encouraged investment,” Sansalone says. The Traction Square project constitutes a $1.8 million reinvestment by the FCDP. The former freight house and surrounding property was redeveloped into four upscale apartments and a new Mexican restaurant, Trevinos, on the ground floor. The FCDP also purchased the Crawford building adjacent to Traction Square, turning it into a mixed-used space of 15 apartments and three retail spaces. The total investment for the Crawford building was $1 million.

Old Main Corridor

Randolph says sometimes a community secures funding for revitalization projects but struggles to find the design expertise to put them into action. Such was the case with the committee’s latest project, a plan to connect Marshall University’s campus with downtown Huntington. The Old Main Corridor Project aims to make Fourth Avenue an attractive destination.

Charles Holley, Huntington’s director of planning, says the project is the fourth phase of the downtown revitalization plan. The first three phases were tied to improving accessibility to Pullman Square in the downtown core. That effort cost $2.7 million but accounted in 2007 for $11 million in increased property values, 21 new businesses, and $237,000 in new property tax revenue.

Next, the city was ready to focus on the stretch of Fourth Avenue that connects downtown to Marshall’s campus.

The Livable Communities Committee entered the process when talks began with Marshall. A study revealed that students represent a $25 million retail market, but “we were only seeing about 10 percent of that,” says Holley.

A survey of more than 1,000 students expressed concerns about poor lighting, vacant lots and dilapidated buildings on Fourth Avenue.

Working with the city, university and the West Virginia chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, the committee devised a plan to make the area a friendly gathering place.

Next spring, Huntington will implement the plan beginning at Hal Greer Boulevard, working in two-block increments to the core of downtown. The strip will include landscaped areas along the street for pedestrian use, wireless Internet connection and opportunities for public art installations such as murals, tree grates and manhole covers.

“We want people to hang out and enjoy the streetscape,” Holley says.

Fairmont and Huntington are successes, but the Livable Communities Committee still faces challenges. The architects volunteer their time. When the design process and presentation is complete, the community must take the next step. If no one implements the plan, the project could be lost.

Randolph says another challenge is the propensity of West Virginia companies and organizations to shop outside the state for architects. The AIA committee works to create awareness and engagement of West Virginia’s architects.

“West Virginians need to understand the benefit of keeping those jobs here,” Randolph says. “It’s an issue of economic sustainability.”

Phoebe Patton Randolph will present information on the Livable Communities Committee at the Create West Virginia Conference October 20-22 at Snowshoe Mountain Resort.

Main Street Fairmont, the Fairmont Community Development Partnership, and a group of business and property owners had already met to discuss ways to revitalize a mixed-use neighborhood in Fairmont known as “Southside” when they received word of AIA’s offer of free design services.

The area, encompassing the 100 to 300 blocks of Fairmont Avenue, had been neglected for years despite being considered a “keystone” section between downtown and the commercial district. Vera Sansalone, executive director of Main Street Fairmont, said the group was looking for a way to refine the neighborhood’s identity, making it a thriving connection point for the city.

When Sansalone got word from city planner Jay Rogers that the West Virginia AIA was interested in making Southside the pioneer project for their Livable Communities Committee, she jumped on the opportunity.

A partnership between public and private interests, the collaboration included Bob Gribben of the Community Development group, Sansalone, and Fairmont business owners, residents and tenants.

“It was a huge learning curve, but the response and community involvement was fantastic,” architect Phoebe Randolph says.

The four-step process included a preliminary walking tour of the area followed by a town hall meeting.

Sansalone described a Saturday afternoon when the committee toured the streets of the Southside neighborhood. As they walked, the residents described their concerns and desires, and the architects began brainstorming ways to incorporate concepts of livability into their design. Together they noticed several historic buildings that were not part of the original plan and decided to expand the boundaries.

Randolph points out the advantage of bringing in a group of architects from around the state who are unfamiliar with the territory.

“There is a benefit in looking at an area with a fresh set of eyes,” she says, “It’s often easier for an outsider to see the potential of a community.” Immediately after the walking tour the architects began sketching.

The first recommendations addressed the community’s traffic safety in areas where Fairmont Avenue is as wide as five lanes. Strategies included reducing the number of lanes to provide shorter pedestrian crosswalks, adding medians with landscaping, and adding parallel parking on both sides of the street. To encourage patronage and new business development in the area, the committee suggested businesses maximize limited parking by sharing spaces at different times of day.

The final stage was a presentation of recommendations, concepts and renderings to the community for feedback.

The plans were used in an application to the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh’s “Blueprint Communities Program.” In 2008, the Southside neighborhood group was one of ten West Virginia communities to receive $20,000 in training and education to help implement their plan. An eight-member citizen group was trained and will lead the process of putting the plan into action.

The Traction Square Project constitutes a $1.8 million reinvestment by the Fairmont Community Development Partnership. The former freight house and surrounding property was redeveloped into four upscale apartments. A new Mexican restaurant, Trevino’s, is on the ground floor. The FCDP also spent $1 million converting the adjacent Crawford building into a mixed use space of 15 apartments and three retail spaces.

Randolph says sometimes a community secures funding for revitalization projects but struggles to find the design expertise to put them in to action, the case with the committee’s latest project, a plan to connect Marshall University’s campus with downtown Huntington. The Old Main Corridor Project aims to make Fourth Avenue a livable, attractive destination.

The project is the fourth phase in Huntington’s Downtown Revitalization Plan. The first three phases were tied to improving accessibility to Pullman Square in the downtown core. In 2007, the $2.5 million investment accounted for an $11 million increase in property value, 21 new businesses, and $237,000 in new property tax revenue.

The city brought the Livable Communities Committee into the Fourth Avenue planning process as the city began talks with Marshall. A study revealed that university students represent a $25 million retail market. “We were only seeing about 10 percent of that,” Holley says.

A survey of more than 1000 students revealed concerns about poor lighting, vacant lots, and dilapidated buildings along Fourth Avenue.

Working with the city and university, the committee devised a plan to make the area a friendly gathering place. Next spring, Huntington will implement the plan beginning at Hal Greer Blvd and working in two block increments to the core of downtown. The strip will include landscaped areas along the street for pedestrian use, wireless internet connection, and opportunities for public art installations, to include murals and tree grates. “We want people to sit, hang out, and enjoy the streetscape,” Holley says.

Fairmont and Huntington are successes for the Livable Communities Committee but challenges remain. Team members are volunteers. When design processes and presentations are complete, it’s up to the communities to take the next step. If no one implements the plans, project may lose momentum or be lost.

Randolph says a second challenge is the propensity of West Virginia companies and organizations to shop outside the state for architects. The AIA committee works to create awareness of West Virginia’s talented architects, encouraging West Virginians to shop locally.

“West Virginians need to understand the benefit of keeping those jobs in-state,” Randolph says. “It’s an issue of economic sustainability.”

Randolph will present information on the Livable Communities Committee at the Create West Virginia Conference October 20-22 at Snowshoe Mountain Resort.

Photo courtesy of Main Street Fairmont