Six years after a request to study and design redevelopment projects for downtown Clarksville, Tennessee, one of the projects sparked by architecture and interior architecture students now is open for the community to enjoy.
On April 18, the city of Clarksville celebrated the opening of its $4.2 million Downtown Commons, a new public square in the heart of downtown that includes a park, seasonal ice-skating rink, a concert stage, a water feature and play areas for children, food vendor locations, and public restrooms.
A public square was the central theme of the students’ design work during the College of Architecture and Design’s Nashville Urban Design Program in summer 2012.
That summer, students and Professor Thomas K. Davis were asked by a Clarksville revitalization nonprofit, Two Rivers Company, to conduct an urban design study to continue the city’s recovery after a devastating tornado ravaged its downtown in 1999.
For 12 weeks, the summer studio of students in residence at the Nashville Civic Design Center gathered input from residents, worked with area architects, studied the urban design plan devised by Davis, and created a proposal to address opportunities.
Students who participated in the project were Tyrone Bunyon (’12), Ashley Gillenwaters (’12), Kendra McHaney (’12), Erin Metelka (’12), Dakota Montgomery (’13), Jared Pohl (’14), Walker Westbrook (’14), and Cory Wilkerson (’13).
One of the group’s first observations was that downtown Clarksville lacked urban spaces. What was called the “public square” was a parking lot for the city hall. After research, students identified a specific urban block as the prime candidate for a new urban square. It was envisioned to be a park, surrounded by shade trees that would spark future mixed use and residential development around it.
“The students identified this site as a highly strategic location,” said Davis. “It catalyzes the whole downtown development with potential for peripheral development on empty sites adjacent and near historic buildings.”
Students also recommended lighting the historic R. J. Corman Railroad Bridge, an idea that was adopted in 2015 and is mimicked in the LED color-changing lighting in the new Downtown Commons. Other areas of downtown redevelopment proposed by students include improvement to walkability and major thoroughfares; a public terrace and parking structure; upgrades to the Roxy Theater; redevelopment of the transit center site; and a potential assisted living center.
Once final designs were complete, students produced The Downtown Clarksville Urban Design Study, a 75-page book, and distributed 100 copies to Clarksville’s civic leadership, downtown stakeholders, and the design and development community.
The ultimate built design of Downtown Commons was professionally designed by Lyle Cook Martin Architects in Clarksville and Hodgson Douglas Landscape Architecture, Planning and Urban Design in Nashville.
“The proposition of a new commons or public square occupying the Bank of America block was a novel concept and one that could only have come from fresh perspectives that well-tutored students possess,” said Lane Lyle, a partner with Lyle Cook Martin Architects and a 1974 graduate of UT’s School of Architecture. “Our downtown had been studied and dissected by a host of urban activists, designers, and so forth for over 30 years, and [a town square] had never been considered before and was entirely original.”
During a Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle Facebook Live interview, Matt Lyle, of Lyle Cook Martin Architects and 2010 graduate of the School of Architecture, said, “Most revitalization in American cities begins with public space and the investment pays back tenfold.”
Already, a diverse series of events is scheduled for the new space, including a monthly concert series.
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CONTACTS:
Amanda F. Johnson (865-974-6401, amandajohnson@utk.edu)
Karen Dunlap (865-974-8674, kdunlap6@utk.edu)