Carl Small Town Center workshop wins national award
Contact: Christie McNeal
STARKVILLE, Miss.āA successful Chickasaw County community planning project is earning national recognition for a well-known Mississippi State architectural research unit.
The universityās Carl Small Town Center is the American Planning Associationās selection for the 2016 James A. Segedy Award for Outstanding Student Project. The award is among several bestowed by APAās Small Town and Rural Division.
Two years ago, Ļć½¶Ö±²„architecture majors and Carl Center professionals helped the City of Houston organize a workshop to gather local ideas for enhancing the southern terminus of the Tanglefoot Trail cycling and pedestrian pathway. āStart Dreaming, Houstonā¦ā was the workshop theme.
Running north-south for more than 43 miles from New Albany to Houston, Tanglefoot became Mississippiās longest rails-to-trails conversion when it opened in 2013.
The Ļć½¶Ö±²„team helped prepare interactive activities, plans and maps, as well as organize group discussions, during the three-day workshop funded by the Citizensā Institute on Rural Design, a National Endowment for the Arts leadership initiative.
The 2014 CIRD grant to Ļć½¶Ö±²„and Houston was one of only four in the U.S. given that year.
The Carl Small Town Center is a non-profit outreach program of MSUās School of Architecture and College of Architecture, Art and Design. For more, see .
āThis award is one of many recent awards that recognizes the work of the Carl Small Town Center to develop and implement design projects for small towns and communities in Mississippi,ā said Greg G. Hall, associate college dean.
Hall said the Houston planning workshop was another āexample of ways in which the center supports the mission of the university to serve the development of the state through teaching, research and service.ā
Leah Kemp, Carl Center assistant director, said a primary workshop goal was to develop plans for a trailhead pavilion and physical guides to lead visitors to Houstonās downtown area and the nearby Natchez Trace Parkway.
āOur students gained immeasurable experience in community engagement and developing leadership skills while helping facilitate the design workshop,ā Kemp said. āThey also gained exposure to national experts and worked alongside them, which they really enjoyed.ā
In noting that construction of a Carl Center-designed pavilion soon will begin, Kemp praised Houston community leaders and volunteers for āmaking big strides to put the workshop plans into action.ā
Speaking for all on the Ļć½¶Ö±²„team, she added, āWe have enjoyed working with them to make it happen.ā
The Segedy Award will be presented formally April 3 during the 2016 APA National Planning Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. The Houston project will be highlighted and also featured in the organizationās newsletter.
Complete information on the American Planning Association is found at .
Ļć½¶Ö±²„is Mississippiās leading university, available online at .