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Home My WebLink About2014-10-16-GMA-min RECEIVED GROUNDVIEW 2022 29 JW,, ° a ui °m T CLERK landscape architecture urban design LEXINGTON MA 5 Detl Street Somervlfle,MA11' 45 61VS48.9688 Grain Mill Alley, Workshop 3: "'Review Refined Design", Meeting Minutes Date & Time: October 16, 2014 at 7:00pm Location: Cary Memorial Library, Lexington, MA Prepared by: Kirk Hiatt, GroundView Attendee Affiliation Melisa Tintocalis Director of Economic Development, Town of Lexington Eden Dutcher Principal, GroundView (landscape architecture) Kirk Hiatt Designer, GroundView (landscape architecture) Approximately 50 Community Members Melisa Tintocalis introduces the project history and outlines the project planning process. Eden Dutcher begins by presenting the planning goals and the sites historical and physical context with downtown Lexington. She then gives a brief overview of what was learned from Workshop 1: "Tell Us What this Space Should Be" and Workshop 2: "Discuss Design Concepts." This was followed by a presentation of the refined design that took the communities comments from Workshops 1 & 2 and synthesized them into the refined design. This was followed by a Q&A session with the community members who were in attendance. • Planning Goals o Enliven an underutilized space o Respect and create a dialog with historical context o Connect Main Street &Minuteman Bikeway • Context o Railroad by 1850 o Grain Mill building by 1889 (mill moved by 1912) o Lumber Yard by 1889 o Hammond Residential building by 1889 o Bank of America building by the 1970s o Minuteman Bikeway by 1993 • Scale Comparison o Grain Mill Alley: 2500sf(27'x95') + 3800sf(shared vehicular/ped) o Emery Park: 19,500sf o Pedestrian Alley: 715sf(9'x77') • Site o Pedestrian connection between Minuteman Bikeway and Massachusetts Avenue o Vehicular traffic - town &Bank of America parking GROUNDVIEW • What we heard at Workshop 1: "Tell Us What this Space Should Be" o Create a "Gateway" o Be Bike Friendly o Design a unique outdoor place o Focus on today, not yesterday o Allow for flexible programming o Provide interactive features o Ensure safety and accessibility • What we heard at workshop 2: "Discuss Design Concepts" - (Two design concepts were presented to the community. The feedback included both verbal Q&A as well as a worksheet that invited the community to write down their impressions and opinions.) Preferred features included in refined design: o Gateway Canopy o Alternative Transportation Node o Connective &Connective Plaza o "Plug &Play"Infrastructure o Fixed &Movable Seating o Sculptural Water Feature o Perennial Planting o Integrated Lighting Ms. Dutcher presented the refined design and a general record of the discussion with the community is as follows: Branding and Overall Concept Tourism and branding - is this consistent with the town's branding? This refined design is an enormous improvement Rename the project - did not like the words"Alley"&"Grain Mill" in the name - Suggestion to rebrand the project as the"Gateway"or something similar Gateway Canopy Structures • The canopy structures were jarring and too contemporary looking. They do not respect the spirit of Lexington. • There was a preference for the canopy within the alley to the canopy near the Bikeway. They responded positively to vines growing up and over the structure, but had questions about the size of the canopy by the bikeway. Appreciated the"softening"effect the vines had on the structure within the alley The structure inside the alley would be better if it could protect pedestrians from the rain Could the canopy structures echo the architectural structures found on the depot? The repetition of gateway elements are really nice Planting • It was suggested that temporary planting, similar to the parklet along Massachusetts Ave., could be used along portions of the Hammond building (Hammond Building fagade/access may change in future, Town to discuss with property owners) • Concerned about the planted mound along Massachusetts Ave. getting weedy and children climbing in the plant bed. It's too angular looking. The mound "closes off"the space Remove the mound along Massachusetts Ave. and bring more greenery into the alley Would rather have more seating along Massachusetts Ave. than the planted mound Liked the rain garden planting with bench, potential ecological educational opportunity Circulation Concern over cyclists riding along the Minuteman bike path colliding with pedestrians and other cyclists coming out of the alternative transportation node adjacent to the bike path. Are the bollards necessary and how much space do they take up? Did not like the paving extended into the bank's parking lot; thought it would be unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists The priority should be for the parking lot, not bicycles Isolate the vehicles from the pedestrians - separate the two out. Do not combine them into the connective plaza - concern over safety 2 GROUNDVIEW Lighting There should be year round lighting Lighting would make the space feel safe at night Wayfinding Like the idea of directional signage (ACROSS Lexington and Town Center) at the Alternative Transportation Node Add informational signage at the Massachusetts ave. end of the alley Consider overall wayfinding signage system, eg. At Depot, Visitor's Center and other key locations Water Water filling station - Some were undecided or unclear how the water feature would work Could there be a water filling station both in the alley and at the bikeway? There is a water fountain already down near the Depot &cross walk. It was suggested that an illuminated continuously running water feature be designed for the blank wall along the Hammond building near Massachusetts ave. Maintenance Add big belly trash and recycling Who will maintain? (DPW) Melisa Tintocalis concluded the meeting by sharing contact information and describing the schedule going forward. The refined design will be presented at an informal HDC hearing and submitted to the CPC in November. End of Meeting Minutes. 3