by Ramona du Houx in Maine INsights
April 3rd, 2014 · Filed under: Community Maine, Creative Economy · No Comments
The design team for the Congress Square Redesign will hold a working meeting for the members of the Congress Square Redesign Study Group and the public to review the findings of their initial assessment and discuss design directions going forward. The meeting will be held Tuesday, April 22 from 6:30pm-8:30pm in the Rines Auditorium at the Portland Public Library. The meeting is free and open to the public.

The design team of Klopfer Martin Design Group (KMDG), a landscape architecture firm in Boston, was selected in December, 2013 as the top choice for the project. The project team includes members from KMDG and Utile, Inc. for urban design, and Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates for civil and traffic engineering. Especially impressive was the team’s experience with and understanding of integrating art into public spaces as well as including the community in the design process. The design team will work with many different groups in designing the square including the community, the Congress Square Redesign Study Group, the Portland Public Art Committee, traffic engineers for the State and High study, and neighboring businesses and institutions. The project will also undergo review through the Historic Preservation Board and the Planning Board.

In August and September of 2013, the Planning Division, working with members from the Congress Square Redesign Study Group and Friends of Congress Square Park, held a Visioning Process to capture insights and input about the future vision of this important intersection. The results from that process along with the vision statement, and additional resources about Congress Square can be found at http://www.portlandmaine.gov/planning/congresssquare.