Browsing by Author "Heile, Laurel"

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    Bluebell Island Natural Area trail design and conceptual redesign of A.R. Matthews Park
    Gilboy, Elizabeth; Steika, Kim; LaRoche, Michael; Edenfield, Caitlin; Heile, Laurel (Virginia Tech. Community Design Assistance Center, 2012-08)
    The Community Design Assistance Center (CDAC) worked with the Town of St. Paul and St. Paul Tomorrow, Inc. to develop a conceptual master plan for the Bluebell Island Trail as well as a redesign for A.R. Matthews Park. Bluebell Island is approximately 1.3 acres. This undeveloped natural area is owned by the town and has recently been put in a conservation easement with The Nature Conservancy (TNC). The town and TNC want to see a natural surfaced trail system developed on the island to compliment the biodiversity of the area and to provide connections to existing trail systems in the area. A.R. Matthews Park, the town’s current riverside park, is adjacent to Bluebell Island and is home to the annual Clinch River Days Festival (circa 1998). This festival was created to “showcase the Clinch River, and the endangered species that exist in and around the river.” 3

    The current park contains a variety of amenities (two tennis courts, a basketball court, children’s play equipment, a stage, a covered shelter, a little league stadium, and the start of a skate park) but is aging and doesn’t take advantage of its proximity to the Clinch River as well as it could. “The St. Paul’s Tomorrow Trails Team is interested in creating a new design for the park that will complement the new trail addition to Bluebell Island and create a Riverwalk that joins Oxbow Lake and the Sugar Hill Loop Trail system.” 4
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    Northwest Montgomery Village Center Foundation Community Design Workshop Summary : Exploring the Reuse of Prices Fork Elementary School
    Gilboy, Elizabeth; Steika, Kim; Clark, Harvey; Heile, Laurel (Virginia Tech. Community Design Assistance Center, 2010-11)
    The current Prices Fork Elementary School, built in 1952, will soon be closed and replaced with a new school that is being built just a few blocks down the road. Citizens of the communities in Northwest Montgomery County have come together in an effort to save the Prices Fork Elementary School and transform it into a Village Center that will serve people of all ages in NW Montgomery County. A non-profit foundation – the Northwest Montgomery Village Center Foundation (NWMVCF) – has formed to help mold the vision for the reuse of the school and bring it forward to realization! The Community Design Assistance Center, partnered with NWMVCF to host this design workshop at Prices Fork Elementary School on October 28th, 2010 to gather additional ideas from the community and develop an array of preliminary design options for the reuse of the site. Goals for the design workshop included:

    • For citizens to be able to partner with designers to see the school as a space with potential!
    • To think out of the box
    • To think of ways the site can serve as a HUB for the community, a private/public partnership
    • For citizens to sign up to help move things forward!

    Virginia Tech students and local design professionals partnered with community members, working in groups to explore ideas for the reuse of the school. Each group discussed ideas and preferences for the and then documented that discussion graphically in plan and sketch form.
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    Redbud Run conservation area conceptual master plan
    Gilboy, Elizabeth; Steika, Kim; Thomas, Jordan; Heile, Laurel; Sokol, Laura; Sumpter, C. LaDell; Poteet, Tish (Virginia Tech. Community Design Assistance Center, 2011-10-01)
    Several local partners are working closely with the Virginia Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries on the development of a management plan for the Redbud preservation parcel. A series of conceptual trail routes are being proposed to accommodate a variety of user groups.