Bessemer - Creating a Vision
Tuesday evening more than 130 people gathered in the Bessemer City Hall Auditorium. The Town Hall Meeting was the first of three meetings that will produce a vision for Bessemer in the future. Warren Rauhe an associate professor at MSU spoke to the enthusiastic audience about the Small Town Initiative Program. Bessemer has been selected by MSU for the program. Interestingly, the program is very different than the Blueprints program that Ironwood has entered into and the Main Street program that Calumet is under taking, and yet all three approaches began with the same first step. That is an introspective analysis of each community by it's residents. What do you like about your community? What don't you like about your community? Ten years from now, what would you like your community to look like?
The Small Town Design Initiative is just that. Ask questions create design images of actual community locations created from the responses of the community and the last but most important step, get to it!
Right - Warren Rauhe, Bessemer's Small Town Design Initiative
Thousands of communities and regions are doing what Bessemer, Ironwood and Calumet are doing. Regardless of the approach, the preparation or the ability of the participants, it all boils down to getting off your butt rolling up your sleeves and going for it. Tuesday Mr. Rauhe made his first visit to Bessemer. The program for the evening included food, beverages and music by the terrific Bessemer HS Band, a family oriented evening
The answers to the three questions were fairly predictable. We're sure that Professor Rauhe has heard them all before. However, due to end game of this program, the answers will be more relevant.
The design team needs to know what item at what location is the object of the discussion. As Rauhe pointed out, imagery reveals the commonality of our visions.
The Small Town Design Initiative is entering its tenth year. It has worked with seventy communities in that time period.
The audience was first asked what is it about Bessemer that you are proud of?
The answers included: churches, that Bessemer is the county seat, Marty's Goldenaires, the elementary school swimming pool and swimming program, a friendly library, volunteerism within the community the historical society, the sheriffs department, safe street, the college, outdoor sports, road use by ATV's and Snowmobiles.
The audience was then asked
what don't you like about Bessemer?
The responses included bad roads,
vandalism and empty storefronts. Lack of shopping, lack of a recycling
drop off, and poor signage .
Professor Rauhe then asked the group, if
fifteen years from now you were to fly in a hot air balloon over
Bessemer what would you want to see?
The replies: People shopping,
children playing, unique stores, greenery downtown, better maintenance
and landscaping, jobs and people working, network of trails - non
motorized and motorized, better signage public restrooms.
The Design Team will now take many digital photo's . They will return in January and will bring back images that show locations the way they appear now and what they can look like in the future. The team will work with small groups of residents to get a better feel of the communities reaction to the imagery.
In late spring, Rauhe will return with specific images for the future derived and developed from the reactions of the participants at the January meeting.
Warren Rauhe earned his Bachelor’s of Landscape Architecture cum laude from SUNNY Syracuse, a Masters of Landscape Architecture from the University of Illinois and a Masters of Business from Central Michigan University. Prior to his appointment at Michigan State, he was a private consultant for 16 years, the last 10 as a partner in a 35 person interdisciplinary planning and design firm.
At Michigan State, Warren is an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture in the School of Planning, Design and Construction and is Director of MSU's Small Town and Community Design Initiatives.
He is also a past Director of the Landscape Architecture Program. He is a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects and a past president of the Michigan Chapter of ASLA. He also has served by appointment of the Governor as a member of the State Registration Board of Landscape Architects. Warren is a licensed landscape architect in the State of Michigan. He has chaired six accreditation visits to schools of landscape architecture around the United States.
He is a frequent
presenter at ASLA, CELA and IFLA. At MSU, Warren's teaching
responsibilities include the senior capstone design studio, professional
practice and the environmental design graduate design studio. He leads
the graduate focus in golf course architecture within the environmental
design masters program. Warren has lectured and taught the subject of
golf course architecture both nationally and internationally.