Design First Walters fm qxd 2/26/04 7: 50 pm page I

Implementation Project Schedule
As part of the charrette report, we created a detailed
schedule for implementing projects in priority over
a period of 10–20 years, the anticipated build-out
of the whole neighborhood. The charrette was com-
pleted in August 2001, just a few days before the trau-
matic events of September 11, 2001, which displaced
all our estimates. Like most of America, the city of
Greenville and the local community were thrown into
a state of shock, and in the economic slump exacer-
bated by the attack on the World Trade Center, little
work was done on neighborhood revitalization pro-
jects for several months. During that time, the devel-
oper of the Ramada Inn project pulled out, putting the
Neighborhood Center on hold and dealing a blow to
the heart of the scheme. Without this impetus, negoti-
ations between city officials and highway engineers on
the redesign of Church Street continued slowly.
However, the master plan was adopted by the city
council in January 2003, and the zoning code imple-
mented on a case-by-case basis. In the spring of 2003,
the city authorities decided on a bold demonstration
project to reinforce their commitment to the neigh-
borhood and to the master plan. For this illustration,
city officials chose the refurbishment of the Springer
Street Tunnel, illustrated in its former dark and dank
state in Figure 10.3. Plate 49 illustrates our redesign,
with a new stairway and rearranged traffic flow.
We recommended improving bicycle and pedes-
trian access through the tunnel by converting one
side to one-way traffic that would yield to oncoming
vehicles as befits a slow-speed neighborhood street.
This left the other side exclusively for cyclists and
pedestrians. We suggested that a light well be formed
in the median of Church Street to allow natural light
to flood into the tunnel midway along its length.
Combined with new lighting inside and around the
tunnel entrances, this would go a long way to offset-
ting the forbidding character of the space. Springer
Street would be further enhanced by new wide stair-
ways leading up to Church Street on either side. This
improves accessibility, opens up the space and pro-
vides an opportunity for civic design and public art
to enhance the neighborhood.