Browsing by Author "Grossman, Mara"

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    Conceptual Landscape Master Plan for Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity
    Steika, Kim; Grossman, Mara; O'Donohoue, Kent (Virginia Tech. Community Design Assistance Center, 2008-10)
    Alpha Gamma Rho is social and professional Agricultural fraternity that seeks to provide its members with opportunities for social interaction and professional development as they pursue careers in agriculture, food, or fiber industries. With the advent of development surrounding the fraternity house and changes in the configuration of local roads, the Alpha Gamma Rho site became bounded by roads on all sides. Views in and out of the site required screening for privacy and directing views. Site circulation, entrance locations, and parking also changed due to the reconfiguration of roads. The Community Design Assistance Center (CDAC) was hired to work with the Alpha Gamma Rho Alumni Board to develop a landscape master plan for the site that addressed entry experience; site circulation and parking suggestions; recreational site master planning recommendations; and planting recommendations for privacy, aesthetics, and environmental stewardship/education.
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    Pellissippi Wetland Park
    Gilboy, Elizabeth; Steika, Kim; Grossman, Mara; Langston, Daniel; Ramesh, Shalini (Virginia Tech. Community Design Assistance Center, 2010-04)
    The proposed Pellissippi Wetland Park is located in heart of Lebanon, Virginia, county seat for Russell County. The site is immediately adjacent to the Russell County Government Center as well as a proposed farmer's market and Veteran's Memorial. Northrup Grummon and CGI offices border the western edge of the side, while a new residential development lies immediately to the north of the site. The park is in walking distance from Lebanon Primary, Elementary, and Middle Schools as well as the Russell County Library. Opportunities for connectivity within the community are great.

    The project site is approximately 5 to 7 acres. The land was deemed unfit for development, allowing the Russell County Industrial Development Authority to lease the land to the Town of Lebanon for environmental education and recreation purposes.

    The project site and its surrounding context lie within the Clinch River Watershed. Water from Pellissippi Wetland Park enters the Clinch River via Little Cedar Creek. The park aims to offer educational opportunities to residents and visitors related to environmental stewardship, environmental functions and diversity, and low impact development. It also aims to improve the quality of the water that passes through its boundaries before it enters the Clinch River.

    A team of educators, local officials, and agency experts were asked to participate in the Pellissippi Wetland Park project team to guide the design development, funding, and implementation of the park. Patrick Smith, an Office of Surface Mining Volunteer in Service to America (OSM/VISTA) intern was brought in to coordinate this effort. The project team contacted the Community Design Assistance Center to request conceptual design assistance for the park site. Goals for the park include:

    - Preserve and Enhance Existing Natural Areas on the Site

    - Increase Positive Environmental Functions on the Site

    - Provide Opportunities for Environmental Education

    - Ensure Accessibility (ADA) and Connectivity to the Broader Community

    - Increase Habitat and Biodiversity

    - Offer Opportunities for Passive Recreation
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    Wildwood interchange design : Exit 19 - Interstate 77, Carroll County, Virginia
    Gilboy, Elizabeth; Steika, Kim; Clough, Jordan; Grossman, Mara; Wallace, I. Caroline (Virginia Tech. Community Design Assistance Center, 2009-07)
    “Carroll County is located in Southwestern Virginia. It is bordered by Patrick County to the southeast, Floyd County to the east, Pulaski and Wythe Counties to the north, Grayson County and the City of Galax to the west, and Surry County, North Carolina to the south. The Town of Hillsville is the county’s Seat of Government and lies near the geographic center of the county”. Interstate 77, which runs from Ohio to South Carolina- a distance of 611 miles- divides the county in half.
    Carroll County is the first County in Virginia to become designated through the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) for sponsored landscaping around all of the interstate interchanges on I-77 in the County. The four interchanges, listed from north to south, include: Exit 19 (Wildwood), 14 (Hillsville/Galax), 8 (Fancy Gap), 1 (not named). VDOT requires a design for each of the interchanges, so the County contacted the Community Design Assistance Center to develop an overall theme that could be applied to all 1-77 Carroll County interchanges as well as to develop a conceptual landscape design for Exit 19.