Village Green Design Expands Village Vision
by Leslie Lytle, Messenger Staff Writer
At the December Sewanee Village update meeting, project coordinator Frank Gladu presented the conceptual design for the village green and civic plaza proposed for the heart of the Sewanee Village.
Last month Scott Parker, principal for the South Carolina-based firm Design Works, spent several days in Sewanee. Parker met with community members, representatives from the Mountain Goat Trail Alliance and Sewanee Parks Committee, storm water consultants and others with a vested interest in the Sewanee Village initiative.
In designing the green planned for the current Sewanee Market lot, Design Works took into account “how the green interacts with everything around it,” Gladu said.
The approach resulted in an expanded vision that incorporates non-priority projects including a design for the civic plaza planned for the front lawn of Shenanigans and proposals for several other buildings.
Among these, Design Works envisioned a community center and theater complex on the west side of the green and an inn on the south side.
Design Works eliminated the road proposed for the west side of the green and replaced it with a bosquet as a transition to building fronts. The gravel, tree-lined border could accommodate movable furniture and vehicles during festivals and farmers markets.
Commenting on the proposed inn, Gladu said, “It makes sense with transient people coming and going.” Gladu also sees the inn as potentially attractive to investors as a revenue generator.
Asked who would pay for the community center and if it would include the senior center, Gladu replied, “This is so preliminary that level of detail hasn’t been determined. The proposed structures around the green are placeholders that could activate the green. The green design plan is a design of how the public space could work and the adjacencies anticipate what might be around it.”
As envisioned by the design, the Mountain Goat Trail will run along the north side parallel U.S. Hwy. 41A. A hedge on the north side will provide a safe border between the green and highway.
“The village and the University are Sewanee. They are not separate,” said Gladu citing Design Works’ guiding principles. “The design of public spaces should reflect and express both.”
The design incorporates storm water features, crosswalks and handicap access ramps. Shade trees frame the 70 feet by 125 feet lawn area on the east and west. Across the highway, a rock wall would buffer the plaza from the road and a small pavilion-style shade structure would offer shelter.
“Now that we have a design, we can begin to estimate the cost for the green and plaza,” Gladu said. “Those two projects will be dependent on philanthropy.” The University owns the sites proposed for the plaza and green.
Gladu anticipates having a final design in January. The final versions will correct some errors in street and building names.
Providing updates on other village projects, Gladu projected construction of the bookstore will be completed by early 2020.
Based on input from the housing focus group, BP Construction is rethinking use of the second-floor space in the market building, Gladu said. “Studio apartments didn’t resonate with the housing focus group,” he noted. Rather than apartments, BP Construction is considering condominiums or other possible use of the second-floor space. The building’s footprint is 7,500 square feet. The first floor will house retail, with a food market as the primary occupant.