The Owners' Manual | Issue 14 | Fall/Winter 2018

Torrington Brownfields (BAR) Grant

The Torrington Brownfield Area-Wide Revitalization (BAR) Project was a Connecticut Department of EconomicandCommunityDevelopment (DECD)Grant funded project that focused on crafting an actionable strategy for redeveloping brownfields within the downtown area. Included in the brownfield strategy, the Design Team developed schematic plans that identified physical connection improvements that would assist in connecting these isolated brownfield sites with the downtown. The development of these schematic plans was framed by a creative Public Outreach and Engagement Strategy that included design workshops, pop-up events around downtown and some “tactical urbanism” techniques. What is “ tactical urbanism ”? It is the conversion of public spaces into people places. Low cost, flexible and short term techniques are used to turn underutilized space into pocket parks, pedestrian streets, seating areas, demonstration spaces, etc. The underutilized space could come from lots of different places but some might include parking spaces, an overly wide street, undefined and used public realm areas, etc. These projects can be driven by City Staff, Community Organizations, Local Citizens or others with the goal of increasing and enhancing public space for our neighborhoods. The design team along with City Staff, local business ownersandresidentsutilizedsome “tactical urbanism” to convert an underutilized service road in the heart of downtown into a pedestrian only street that was filled with farmers market tents, street games, accent lighting, trees and shrubs, chalk art, outdoor seating, good food, mood music, and whole lot of fun!

We invited the whole community to take part in converting this street into a great public space. The City plans on officially converting this street into a permanent pedestrian street in the upcoming years, but in the meantime as part of our outreach and engagement with the public, we were able to provide an opportunity for the City, its residents, stakeholders and business partners to work together and participate in developing great public spaces for its future.