Glass House Collective will be hosting regular “Planning-By-Doing” workshops this fall in conjunction with project collaborators to explore ways to improve connectivity, comfort and access in the Glass Street Gateway area. Grant funds will be used to create a "culturally relevant and welcoming atmosphere" on Crutchfield Street and around the Glass Street and Dodson Avenue intersection that complements a planned new grocery store.
An asphalt mural will be created at the site next spring by commissioning local artists and polling community members for creative ideas. The first workshop will be on Oct. 3 from 10 a.m.-noon. The workshops will bring together teams including artists, residents, community partners and design professionals. Each team will be challenged to create design concepts for Crutchfield Street’s Asphalt Mural and temporary projects that better connect the Gateway’s assets while addressing the community’s priorities.
The location on Crutchfield Street was selected as the asphalt mural site for this project because of its central location to neighborhood assets like Hardy Elementary, the East Chattanooga Youth and Family Development Center and the new Save-A-Lot grocery store.
The Executive Director for Glass House Collective Teal Thibaud says the goal is to improve connectivity, comfort and access in the Glass Street Gateway. “The ideas generated in the initial planning workshop will result in two ‘doing’ outcomes: first, these workshops will provide the basis for the asphalt mural designs and second, these workshops will generate other ideas for low-cost, tactical interventions that can be implemented quickly throughout the Glass Street Gateway,” said Ms. Thibaud.
Glass House Collective led multiple creative community engagement processes which involved input from more than 300 local residents. Residents identified sidewalks, street trees and beautification as community priorities in the area. CDOT will begin the streetscape improvements this fall with the goal of completion in May 2021.