Grand Plan for Grand Center
An idea so big it takes five nights to cover
May 13, 2014 – St. Louis, MO
Creative Exchange Lab – The Center for Architecture + Design STL (CEL) will open its next exhibition,
Great Streets Project: Grand Center, that will kick off five events in May, June and July with the first two presentations on Thursday May 22nd and Friday, May 23rd at its Grand Center location, 3307 Washington Ave. from 6:00 – 8:30 p.m. on both evenings.
Since 2011, Grand Center, Inc. (GCI) and the Grand Center District’s major institutions have collaborated and funded a planning process that has resulted in a unified vision for the Grand Center District. GCI’s mission is to transform the district – home of organizations devoted to art, culture, education and entertainment– into a nationally recognized arts and entertainment district that will add to the regional economy of St. Louis as a tourist destination and improve the quality of life for St. Louisians.1
“With assistance from East West Gateway’s Great Streets program, Grand Center embarked on a transformative visioning exercise to significantly enhance the public’s experience in the district. Guided by the consulting team of Christner and Hoerr Shaudt, the primary stakeholders of the district conducted an open, participatory planning process spanning about six months, and focused primarily on the streets of the district. With the ‘urban stage’ as the conceptual metaphor, the Great Streets Concept Plan narrows streets, widens sidewalks, enhances street lighting, and enhances pedestrian flow throughout the district,” said Dan Jay, Principal, Christner, Inc.
The resulting study demonstrated the possibility of removing impediments to pedestrian traffic as well as improving the aesthetic experience. The key concepts that emerged through the study were improvements to connectivity, community anchors, environment, infrastructure analysis, prominent views and spacial analysis.
Presenting the concepts and execution of the Master Plan for Grand Center on Thursday evening, May 22nd will be Laurel Harrington, RLA, ASLA, LEED AP, Director of Landscape Architecture Christner, Inc., the Landscape Architecture and Planning Lead for this project.
Please join us again on Friday evening, May 23, when Vincent C. Schoemehl, Jr., President and CEO of Grand Center, Inc. will present the greater vision for the Grand Center district.
Creative Exchange Lab – The Center for Architecture and Design (CEL) is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to educate the general public about the critical role the disciplines of Architecture, Art and Design
can play not only in improving quality of life and livability of our cities, but also potentially as a catalyst and
key contributor to economic development and sustainability of our communities and our cities. All events and programming for CEL can be viewed at its website: creativeexchangelab.com.
This event is free and open to the public. Q&A will occur after the presentations.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
Laurel Harrington, Director of Landscape Architecture
Christner, Inc.
6:00 – 8:30 PM Creative Exchange Lab 3307 Washington Ave. St. Louis, Missouri 63103
Friday, May 23, 2014
Vincent C. Schoemehl, Jr., Pres
ident and CEO
Grand Center, Inc. 6:00 – 8:30 PM Creative Exchange Lab 3307 Washington Ave. St. Louis, Missouri 63103