Editorial: Creative Corridors: Well-designed bridges represent civic pride

The finalists have been revealed and they’re gorgeous.

After much hard work and considerable public input, the Creative Corridors Coalition unveiled the designs for the bridges it’s proposing to span the future Business 40 at a meeting in the Hanesbrand Theatre recently, the Journal’s Wesley Young reported.

They include a bridge with graceful arches inspired by our local oak trees, a bridge with illuminated spires that echo our traditional Moravian stars and a pedestrian bridge that incorporates planting beds and greenery.

The plan also contains improvements for Martin Luther King Jr. Drive – which will become more important while Business 40 is closed – and other portions of Business 40.

The main designers, noted architects Donald McDonald, Walter Hood and Larry Kirkland, spoke to a packed auditorium about the inspiration for their designs.

“When you drive though this town at 40 or 50 miles per hour you ought to come away with an image,” McDonald said.

And despite a certain amount of skepticism some might have for that idea, it does seem likely that these bridges will be memorable – and not just to passers-through, but to residents as well.

Beginning next year, Business 40 from the western point of the Peters Creek Parkway interchange to U.S. 52 in the east is scheduled to be closed for a four-year, $80 million renovation project. Some entrance ramps will be eliminated and some lengthened. And the bridges that connect downtown with West Salem and Old Salem will be completely replaced.

There’s no doubt that having such fancy bridges costs extra, and the Department of Transportation doesn’t normally cover the cost of aesthetic improvements and all the elements and materials that entails. But the Creative Corridors group plans to cover most of the extra expense with private donations, and has already secured some: $250,000 from the John W. and Anna H. Hanes Foundation, $200,000 from the James G. Hanes Memorial Fund and $100,000 from an anonymous donor. It hopes to raise about $5.2 million privately, combining that with city and federal funds to maximum benefit.

We realize that some still would rather we have “no frills” bridges that don’t risk burdening taxpayers. There’s nothing wrong with that opinion. But we think a miniscule amount of public funds for the remainder, if called for, would be well worth the investment.

“No frills” strikes us as being reminiscent of the boxy utilitarian designs of Soviet Eastern Berlin. Sure, they work, but who would want to look at their blandness day in and day out?

As was pointed out at the meeting, we will be living with these bridges for the next 70 or so years; they will represent our city and our investment in ourselves. The bridges will not only be a source of transportation, but a sign of our unity as residents of a city in which we take pride. Let’s get them right.

Journal editorial board Winston-Salem Journal

http://www.journalnow.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-creative-corridors-well-designed-bridges-represent-civic-pride/article_05e0215c-2414-11e5-aa0a-2b4afa2dd539.html

Designers Unveil Renderings of Iconic Downtown Bridges

Three world-renowned designers unveiled concepts for bridges in downtown Winston-Salem on Monday as Creative Corridors made a push to include iconic features, part of the renovation of Business 40.

With work expected to begin on the renovation of Business 40 through downtown Winston-Salem next summer, the Creative Corridors Coalition is making a concerted effort to promote iconic design features for four bridges that will provide pedestrian and automotive connectivity.

“It was our turn finally to get a redo on this aging infrastructure that was constructed in the 1950s,” said Lee French, chairman of the group’s board of directors. “Given that, we asked ourselves the question: What would it take to do something special, something that would not only symbolize our aspirations, but would actually be a bona fide and tangible strategic development to support the capital investment that has been made?”

Noting that more than $1.2 billion has been invested by the private sector in Winston-Salem’s revitalization over the past 15 years and that almost $200 million is being spent on new highways, streets and bridges, French said it’s important to leverage and protect those investments.

“It’s not just about beautiful designs and beautiful architecture,” he said. “It’s about truly connecting or reconnecting our city in a way that we haven’t been able to since those roadways were built in the 1950s, literally dividing parts of our community.”

French said the iconic design features will complement ongoing real-estate investment while acting as an asset to attract additional tourism and workforce talent.

Creative Corridors announced on Monday that two foundations associated with the Hanes family along with an anonymous donor have contributed a total of $550,000 in part to pay three renowned designers to develop concepts for the four bridges. Donald McDonald, Larry Kirkland and Walter Hood spent the day presenting their designs and answering questions.

McDonald, who also helped put together the Creative Corridors master plan, designed a dome-like set of twin arches over the interchange at Highway 52 and the new Research Parkway, which will function as a key gateway into downtown while the renovation of Business 40 takes place from 2016 through 2020. The arches take visual cues from the Wells Fargo building, which was designed by architect César Pelli.

McDonald is responsible for the design of the Cooper River Bridge in Charleston, SC, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and Tilikum Crossing, a new bridge in Portland, Ore. designed for pedestrians, cyclists and mass transit.

McDonald also contributed the design for the Green Street bridge, a pedestrian crossing that will be built near BB&T Park in Winston-Salem. Tiered arches connected with radial cables reinforce an idea that replicates the design of Moravian arches and the Wells Fargo building, along with the silhouettes of trees. McDonald said he got the idea for the bridge during a visit earlier this year.

“I came to the city and I saw the trees without the leaves on them,” he recalled. “I saw the Wells Fargo building and I said, ‘I’m going to reinforce that idea.’” The arches represent the silhouettes of trees, overlaid to suggest one after another receding into the horizon, while the cables represent the branches.

Larry Kirkland, a public-art designer whose work is installed at Penn Station in New York City and the American Red Cross headquarters, unveiled a design for the Peters Creek Parkway bridge, which will serve as a western gateway to downtown. The bridge design features a glass barrier wall and plinths, or columns that flank the path at either end.

“Like Donald [McDonald], I was inspired by the original beginnings of this community, which is the Moravians,” Kirkland said. “And I took the shape of the Moravian star and pulled it up so it’s like a spire…. So I wanted this to talk about the history of the city but to also be about aspiration, so it is a spire. So by taking this and pulling it up and making it a glass, stainless steel and LED plinth, these elements are about 25 feet tall.”

Walter Hood, who studied at NC A&T University in Greensboro and went on to create the landscape design at the MH deYoung Museum in San Francisco, presented a plan for the Strollway. Currently a tunnel near the BB&T Building, Hood’s plan converts the transit point to a “land bridge” with natural features.

“On the north side, coming from downtown, we actually have the opportunity to make a park experience before you get to the bridge,” he said. “Once you get on the bridge you actually have the vegetation coming all the way in. And our early examples show that we were trying to bring big trees as far out as possible, so we’re actually using them as buttresses. But we don’t think this is possible with DOT. So the larger trees will stop [at the edge] but we’ll be able to have medium sized, flowering trees — dogwoods, redbuds, those type of trees.”

French said the NC Department of Transportation is currently putting the designs “through a rigorous set of engineering and costing reviews,” adding that he believes they can be constructed within budget. He said about $10 million in public funds and $5 million in private money — to be raised by Creative Corridors — will be needed to complete the project.

Winston-Salem Assistant City Manager Greg Turner said there is $3 million available for enhancements on the Business 40 renovation project from two different types of bonds, or public debt instruments. Turner said staff plans to bring cost estimates and design proposals for the bridges before the public works and finance committees of city council sometime next month.

Pat Ivey, a division engineer with the NC Department of Transportation, confirmed that the state agency has $700,000 in contingency funds available for the twin arches at the Highway 52-Research Parkway interchange. He said the contractor responsible for building the interchange and the new roadway originally bid the arches at $3 million, adding that Creative Corridors is modifying its design and materials to bring the cost down closer to $1 million.

Ivey said the department of transportation is on board with many of Creative Corridors’ design concepts, including glass barrier walls at the Peters Creek Parkway bridge and the use of a brick motif, if not the actual material lining the walls of the freeway. Much depends, he said, on what the city of Winston-Salem is willing to contribute or Creative Corridors is able to raise privately.

“We have been working very closely with the city and Creative Corridors from the start,” Ivey said. “We’re going to be on board with whatever recommendation the city makes to include in the project.”

Remarks by representatives of the parties involved in the project indicate a new spirit of cooperation. The relationship between the NC Department of Transportation and Creative Corridors hasn’t always been smooth, with the state agency in the past insisting that it is legally required to hold its own public process, and local architects tasked with establishing design guidelines complaining that DOT ignored their input.

“We are optimistic that [DOT’s] recommendations back [to the city] will not only resemble but will be exactly what the designs are,” Creative Corridors Chairman French said on Monday. “We’re realistic in understanding that DOT works with certain practical realities. We’re hopeful that if they make recommendations for the designs at all they will be for reasons that allow us to get them done.”

The alignment of agendas between the state transportation agency, the city and Creative Corridors suggests many of the details were hashed out in advance of Monday’s public presentation.

“I do not want to be driving down these roads in 10 years,” French said, “and be asked the question: ‘Weren’t you here when they made these decisions? Weren’t you a part of this community? Didn’t you try?’”

by Jordan Green

http://triad-city-beat.com/designers-unveil-renderings-of-iconic-downtown-bridges/

Creative Corridors to Change the Face of Downtown

The Creative Corridors Coalition was formed in 2007 with one important mandate: help transform the proposed North Carolina Department of Transportation Business 40 Project into a visually stunning showcase for life in Winston-Salem. While NC DOT made plans to replace 11 aging bridges leading into downtown, the Creative Corridors Coalition worked closely with the City of Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, and NC DOT to make sure those bridges would double as a dynamic entrance into the heart of the city.

When Creative Corridors unveiled their designs on Monday, it was immediately clear they had achieved their goal.

“Exciting and inspiring” were two key words that Lee French, the Creative Corridors Coalition Board of Directors chairman, used to describe the project. He spoke about how the designs were both practical in that they could be implemented in and constructed in a way that fits the fundraising goals of CCC, and altruistic in the way they would bring people together.

“It’s about truly connecting or reconnecting our cities in ways that haven’t been possible since the 1960’s,” said French.

The mantra driving Creative Corridors has been GAIN – Green, Artful, Iconic, and Network. Essentially, bringing the city together around purposeful structures that look beautiful. The coalition wants to attract workforce, tourism, and economic development with these structures, and let Winston-Salem serve as a driveway for the rest of the state – a state that includes diverse people and world-class education institutions.

To help, the coalition recruited three key designers: award-winning architect Donald MacDonald, noted public artist Larry Kirkland, and North Carolina native Walter Hood.

MacDonald is famous for designing some of the nation’s most notable bridges – including the San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridge and the retrofit of the Golden Gate Bridge. He has over 40 years of architecture experience, and extensive knowledge of government procedures, public review process, and public consultation requirements.

During the conference on Monday, MacDonald spoke briefly about how his work on the Cooper River Bridge in Charleston, South Carolina, brought elements of the community together, and how his work on Tilkum Crossing in Portland, Oregon showed him how important community participation is. In Oregon, they had over 15 public meetings about the bridge.

MacDonald displayed his grand vision for Winston-Salem: Twin Arches as the Salem Creek Connector (a new planned interchange at US 52 and Research Parkway) that he thinks will “make a statement” as you drive through town. The arches, inspired by those commonly seen in the Winston-Salem Moravian community, cross to represent the joining of a community.

MacDonald has also been hard at work on the Green Street Pedestrian Bridge, which is a walkway over Business 40 that will connect the West Salem neighborhood with BB&T Ballpark and the upcoming development in that area. Not only does the planned bridge have an economic purpose, but it was inspired by oak trees in the area. MacDonald cited specifically how the trees have a “layered” look when they’re bare in the winter – the same layered look that arches on the side of the Green Street bridge will have.

Larry Kirkland is known for public arts projects. He’s touched installations everywhere from the American Red Cross Headquarters to New York’s Penn Station.

Kirkland started by talking a lot about brick – how the Coalition wanted barrier walls throughout the corridor to look unique and not be concrete. It’s been a sticking point up until now with the state, and one that has seemingly yet to be resolved. While it sounded like the plan moving forward was to use concrete, a passing remark was made about the brick that current lines construction on 52, with the suggestion being that brick barrier walls are still a possibility. It’s unclear what other options exist to help the barrier wall stand out.

Kirkland’s focus was the new Peters Creek Parkway Bridge. Federal mandate required a soundwall be placed atop the bridge itself, so he came up with a creative solution: turn the sides of the walkway into 15 ft. tall glass panes, place four large sculptures on the corners of the bridge, and incorporate community art on both the glass panes and the sound barrier that starts where the glass walkway ends. It’s a design that, much like the Green Street Pedestrian Arches, is rooted in Winston-Salem’s rich Moravian heritage.

A local reporter asked Kirkland about the choice in glass and it’s durability for the Peters Creek bridge, which he addressed by pointing out how other options (such as chain fence) would have worked against the aesthetic Creative Corridors is striving for.

Larry Kirkland has also been instrumental in outlining the Visionary Master Plan and Design Guidelines that have driven the Creative Corridors project as a whole. His artistic influence has touched much of the overall project.

More than just being a North Carolina native, Walter Hood has won numerous design awards, including most recently the Cooper-Hewitt Design Award for Landscape Design. He’s completed projects everywhere from Oakland, California, to Atlanta, Georgia, where he worked on the Center for Civil and Human Rights.

Hood’s work on the Strollway Pedestrian Bridge in Winston-Salem was sparked from an essential question – “how can a strollway create a bridge?” He envisions it as walking through a strollway when, suddenly, you find yourself on the middle of I-40. It’s designed as a natural looking park that literally goes over the interstate. Most interesting, the greenery along the bridge will be asymmetrical, which is to help create visual interest as a person walks into the forest. It will look nothing like a bridge despite hovering above a busy highway.

After the artist presentations concluded, Redge Hanes spoke about why funding this project was so important. “These bridges are going to built. To have them simply be utilitarian structures says a lot about this city, it’s inspirations.”

He said that every great city has a defining aesthetic, and since Winston-Salem defines itself as a place of “imagination, innovation, arts,” it was important that these new structures represented that ideal.

Hanes concluded by discussing how you only have one opportunity to make a first impression on visitors. With the Creative Corridor, he hopes that Winston-Salem’s vision is clear – that those visitors see how the city has one, singular aspiration.

By Michael A. Wiseman

http://www.camelcitydispatch.com/creative-corridors-to-change-the-face-of-downtown-1228/

Creative Corridors Makes Push for Bridge Upgrades

Wesley Young/Winston-Salem Journal

A group calling for enhanced bridges along Business 40 downtown had a public unveiling of the designs on Monday, in advance a campaign to make the designs a reality.

The Creative Corridors Coalition held “Meet the Designs and the Designers” event Hanesbrands Theatre on Spruce Street to show off the designs, which include bridges with arches, elements of a Moravian star and a naturalistic “land bridge” for the downtown Strollway.

Designers Donald McDonald, Walter Hood and Larry Kirkland took part in the event, which gave the public a chance to see artists’ renderings of the designs up close.

The three men noted for their work in architecture and art were hired by the Creative Corridors Coalition to work on the bridges that the group hopes to turn into iconic city landmarks.

“When you drive though this town at 40 or 50 miles per hour you ought to come away with an image,” McDonald said during a press conference held Monday morning. McDonald’s bridge-design credits include the Cooper River Bridge in Charleston, S.C. and Tilikum Crossing, a pedestrian and biking bridge in Portland, Ore.

Here, McDonald and the others noticed design elements that include the Moravian-style arch and the points on a Moravian star, along with red-brick architecture that they feel should be prominent design elements on Business 40 when renovations are complete.

About a hundred people turned out to see the designs.

“I think they are wonderful,” said Patricia Sokoloff, who came out to look at the artists’ renderings. “We have an extraordinary community here. The arts people and the people who plan things physically work together.”

The Business 40 project includes the complete reconstruction of the Peters Creek Parkway interchange and the streamlining of Business 40 downtown by eliminating some ramps and lengthening the ones that remain.

It all gets under way in 2016, meaning that city and state officials have to make some final decisions soon about what the roadway will look like in addition to the better functionality.

Creative Corridors is hoping to raise about $5.2 million privately, using that money in part to go in with the city and leverage another $5 million or so in federal funds to make streetscape improvements as well on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and the new Research Parkway leading into a road under construction called the Salem Creek Connector.

Guests invited for a noon luncheon heard the Creative Corridors pitch at the building that houses the Winston-Salem Foundation downtown on Monday.

Creative Corridors is focusing on enhancements for the Peters Creek Parkway bridge over Business 40, a Green Street pedestrian bridge to the east and a Strollway bridge downtown. In addition, a bridge with interlocking arches will rise at the intersection of U.S. 52 and the Salem Creek Connector.

As proposed by the Creative Corridors design team, the Peters Creek Parkway bridge would include illuminated spires reminiscent of the tips of a Moravian star, while the Green Street bridges would have an arched design.

The Strollway land bridge would be designed to incorporate plantings and even small trees to give a naturalistic effect.

Pat Ivey, divisional engineer for the N.C. Department of Transportation in Forsyth County, said some of the Creative Corridors designs build on the efforts of a Bridge Working Group that the Transportation Department put together to work on bridge designs.

“The DOT took the work of the working group and put together enhanced pedestrian bridges,” Ivey said. “Creative has gone to the next level.”

Extras like that cost money, hence the need for a private fundraising effort if the designs are to be upgraded beyond what the Transportation Department would ordinarily pay for.

Creative Corridors officials said Monday that the effort has received $250,000 from the John W. and Anna H. Hanes Foundation, $200,000 from the James G. Hanes Memorial Fund and $100,000 from an anonymous donor.

Desiree Payne, who with her husband Rich lives in West Salem, said she is enthusiastic about the treatments proposed for the Green Street bridge, which would be flanked with arches. And the elevated Strollway bridge, she said, would be a lot better than the current layout.

“We use the Strollway now and it is almost scary,” Payne said.

Regina McCoy said that while the designs are good, she worries that the fancy bridges could create the kind of gentrification that could drive out poorer people and minorities.

“I want our community to have this blend,” McCoy said.

Anne Cannon said that when she visits her daughter in Phoenix, Ariz., the designs on the highways give a sense of being in the Southwest.

Winston-Salem needs something that can make it stand out, she said.

“I love everything they have done,” Cannon said.

wyoung@wsjournal.com

(336)727-7369

Designers Discuss Plans For Business 40 Corridor

WFDD’s Paul Garber speaks with the designers involved in the Creative Corridors project.

http://wfdd.org/post/designers-discuss-plans-business-40-corridor

A trio of internationally known designers came to Winston-Salem Monday to pitch their ideas on a new look for the city’s aged downtown bridges.

A proposal for the Peters Creek Parkway bridge over Business 40 includes lighted spires resembling the points on a Moravian Star.

Credit Creative Corridors Coalition

The suggestions come as the state Department of Transportation prepares to begin renovations on Business 40 next year.

The Creative Corridors Coalition wants the plans to include artistic elements for the roadwork to help give the highway a gateway appeal.

Donald MacDonald is a bridge designer who has worked on the Oakland Bay Bridge in San Francisco and the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge in Charleston, South Carolina. He says he likes the idea of using the bridges to unify the community instead of dividing it.

“Most of these freeways they jammed through in the 50s and 60s divided cities, as it did in the Bay Area where I live,” he says. “So to see it happening here would be a great prototype for other cities to look at.”

In all, the coalition has proposed six priorities including updates to three existing bridges. Two of the plans draw inspiration from the city’s Moravian culture. That includes the Peters Creek Parkway Bridge that would have lighted points reminiscent of a Moravian Star. The idea came from designer Larry Kirkland, who says each bridge will have its own unique expression.

“What we really want Business 40 to do in this re-creation is to say ‘Winston-Salem is a great place. Stop and visit,’” he says.

Walter Hood is a landscape architect and a Charlotte native who is designing a strollway that would cross over Business 40. The bridge would be lined on both sides with plants to make it feel like walking through nature.

Hood says the idea of the bridges is to make them vivid and memorable.

The city council is expected to vote next month on whether they back the Creative Corridors’ plans.