Undergraduate Summer Scholar designs options for underused lot
Abby Haney, a senior Landscape Architecture major, spent part of last summer imagining how an underused lot in Wilmington, Delaware, might be repurposed to help meet the community’s needs.
As a Community Engagement Summer Scholar, Haney worked with the local nonprofit organization Collaborate Northeast, which is dedicated to ensuring that redevelopment in northeast Wilmington is sustainable and driven by the community.
“My piece of that process,” said Haney, “was making concept plans and perspectives of different versions of what the site could be, and shedding light on its potential.”
Haney worked with the organization to get community feedback on her designs, which was then incorporated into her final presentation.
“I did end up creating plans for a food truck park and a mixed-use building,” she said. Haney also drafted concepts for “a space for performances or for people to sort of get together, … one called Peace Park, which was very green and had a stormwater management element to it.”
Another design was for a market space with either temporary or small, permanent structures that serve as low-cost storefronts.
It was critical, Haney says, that land be used in a way that was relevant to the community. “Otherwise, it just won’t be good for the people who are already living in the area.”