Parsons Students Visit Village Of Margaretville
Students
and faculty members from Parsons The New School for
Design spent Thursday through Sunday in Margaretville
last week learning about community needs and
preparing to work on projects designed to meet those
needs. Eleven students in the Masters of Architecture
Program are currently developing plans to rebuild the
pavilion on the Margaretville Village Ballfield.
Accompanied by two professors, they spent all day
Thursday looking at that project, meeting with local
people who use the pavilion, and interacting with
Code Enforcement Officer Patrick Davis to learn what
could and could not be built in the flood plain.
In
an independent but related project, four
undergraduate students doing research projects in the
Village spent time Friday, Saturday and Sunday
walking the village and seeking “man on the street”
interviews with business owners and patrons to get
ideas for implementing a number of potential
projects. The visit on Thursday was the culmination a
four-month negotiation between the Citizens
Initiatives for Community Spaces (CICS), the
Margaretville Village Board and Parsons which
established a budget, a work plan and ultimately a
contract to have a state of the art pavilion designed
and built at no tax cost to Village Taxpayers. CICS
agreed to raise 100% of the funding that will be
needed to buy building materials, needed services and
insurance to complete the project. Parsons has agreed
to design and build the pavilion, working with a
large group of local stakeholders concerned about the
future of the structure and the ball field. The
Village of Margaretville, which owns the property and
ultimately, the pavilion on it, agreed to accept
Parsons as the builder, with a separate agreement
that the M-ARK Project, Inc will administer and over
see the work to be sure it is done to standards and
codes.
While a large number of community members will have a voice in the design process, ultimately, the Village Board will be responsible for approving the structure to be built. Students expect to do all of the design and pre-fabrication work this spring then build the pavilion on site during the coming summer. With all contracts signed, sealed and delivered, Thursday was the first day that the students actually doing the work started their design activities. Meeting on Thursday with members of the Margaretville Fire Department, the Greater Margaretville Chamber of Commerce, the Margaretville Memorial Hospital, Margaretville Central School and Main Street business owners, students began to hear what sorts of things people might like to see in a new pavilion and what things they would not like.
In a session with Code Enforcement Officer Patrick Davis and the DEC’s Tom Blanchard, students spent nearly three hours learning about the constraints of trying to build on a site that is subject to serious flooding on a regular basis. In a specially called Village Board meeting at the end of the day, students spent an hour meeting their new “clients” and hearing from elected trustees, what their visions were. Mayor William Stanton welcomed all of the students as well as David J. Lewis, Director of the Masters of Architecture Program and Joel Stoehhrs, the faculty member who will work with the students here on site next summer.
While most present focused on the details of the pavilion itself, trustee Rob Allison noted his hope that the Parsons students might actually interface with some of Margaretville’s high school students and let them see what goes on behind the scenes in a project like this. “We lose a lot of our young people when they leave schools here,” said Allison. “If they could see what you do, and see that you can do exciting work right here in Margaretville, some of them might decide to stay.”
While Thursday’s event was all about the pavilion, Friday through Sunday saw four Parsons students here working on a variety of other projects that could ultimately be proposed for the Village. In both cases, it was stressed that nothing will be built without significant input from the local community and without getting all required permits and meeting all code requirements. Housed by John Van Benschoten and Kate Lawrence and Jennifer Kabat and David Rainbird, the four seniors had an opportunity to immerse themselves in Village activities. They ate in local restaurants, shopped in stores, and interviewed people they saw up and down Main Street throughout the weekend.
“The students were overwhelmed with the friendliness of the people here and their willingness to talk,” said CICS volunteer Kate Lawrence-. “They were expecting to get brushed off when they stopped people to ask questions and instead, found everyone eager to stop and talk and share their opinions.
Now that the first steps in the design process have been taken, CICS volunteers will move on two parallel tracks. One group will focus on fundraising activities to secure enough funding to make a lot of new projects happen. Another CICS group will work with the community to develop designs that can be widely embraced by potential users. A major public meeting will be held in mid-February to update the entire community on all details of all Parsons projects including who is working on them, what the ultimate outcomes might be, how money might be raised and what process might be used to start and finish the projects. Everyone who lives in, works in or visits Margaretville is invited to attend. For more information on the meeting or the Parsons initiatives, call 845-586-3500 or e-mail the CICS Chairman, David France at david@davidfrance.com
While a large number of community members will have a voice in the design process, ultimately, the Village Board will be responsible for approving the structure to be built. Students expect to do all of the design and pre-fabrication work this spring then build the pavilion on site during the coming summer. With all contracts signed, sealed and delivered, Thursday was the first day that the students actually doing the work started their design activities. Meeting on Thursday with members of the Margaretville Fire Department, the Greater Margaretville Chamber of Commerce, the Margaretville Memorial Hospital, Margaretville Central School and Main Street business owners, students began to hear what sorts of things people might like to see in a new pavilion and what things they would not like.
In a session with Code Enforcement Officer Patrick Davis and the DEC’s Tom Blanchard, students spent nearly three hours learning about the constraints of trying to build on a site that is subject to serious flooding on a regular basis. In a specially called Village Board meeting at the end of the day, students spent an hour meeting their new “clients” and hearing from elected trustees, what their visions were. Mayor William Stanton welcomed all of the students as well as David J. Lewis, Director of the Masters of Architecture Program and Joel Stoehhrs, the faculty member who will work with the students here on site next summer.
While most present focused on the details of the pavilion itself, trustee Rob Allison noted his hope that the Parsons students might actually interface with some of Margaretville’s high school students and let them see what goes on behind the scenes in a project like this. “We lose a lot of our young people when they leave schools here,” said Allison. “If they could see what you do, and see that you can do exciting work right here in Margaretville, some of them might decide to stay.”
While Thursday’s event was all about the pavilion, Friday through Sunday saw four Parsons students here working on a variety of other projects that could ultimately be proposed for the Village. In both cases, it was stressed that nothing will be built without significant input from the local community and without getting all required permits and meeting all code requirements. Housed by John Van Benschoten and Kate Lawrence and Jennifer Kabat and David Rainbird, the four seniors had an opportunity to immerse themselves in Village activities. They ate in local restaurants, shopped in stores, and interviewed people they saw up and down Main Street throughout the weekend.
“The students were overwhelmed with the friendliness of the people here and their willingness to talk,” said CICS volunteer Kate Lawrence-. “They were expecting to get brushed off when they stopped people to ask questions and instead, found everyone eager to stop and talk and share their opinions.
Now that the first steps in the design process have been taken, CICS volunteers will move on two parallel tracks. One group will focus on fundraising activities to secure enough funding to make a lot of new projects happen. Another CICS group will work with the community to develop designs that can be widely embraced by potential users. A major public meeting will be held in mid-February to update the entire community on all details of all Parsons projects including who is working on them, what the ultimate outcomes might be, how money might be raised and what process might be used to start and finish the projects. Everyone who lives in, works in or visits Margaretville is invited to attend. For more information on the meeting or the Parsons initiatives, call 845-586-3500 or e-mail the CICS Chairman, David France at david@davidfrance.com