Landscape Architect Articles

Center Street Streetscape Improvements,08-02-16 | Feature

Center Street Streetscape Improvements
by Allison Platt & Associates, Goldsboro, N.C.

Center Street in Goldsboro, N.C., originally had railroad tracks running down the center of the street. The tracks were removed in 1927. The streetscape that followed was almost entirely paved, including four rows of head-in parking, narrow 10-ft. walks, and two lanes in each direction separated by a narrow concrete median (before image). In Phase 1 work, patterned brick sidewalks were widened on both sides of the street to 19 feet to allow room for sidewalk dining. The two single lane roadways and parking areas were separated by a 15' 6" wide median strip of "Celebration' Bermuda sod that bulbs out to 50' wide at the median plazas and crosswalks. An exposed aggregate walkway was also included. Zelkova trees were initially planted along the sidewalk, but were replaced by Bosque elms in Phase 2; Willow oaks were planted in the median to provide a high shady canopy in the warm summer months.

Goldsboro, North Carolina (pop. 36,437) is in Wayne County, the eastern sector of the state on the coastal plain, 43 miles southwest of Greenville, and about a 62-mile drive to the Atlantic shores. The city is bordered on the west by the Little River, and on the south by the Neuse River. Goldsboro is the proud home of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base (4th Fighter Wing).

Allison Platt & Associates prepared a master plan for downtown Goldsboro back in 2008. An important recommendation of the master plan was to renovate Center Street, the main historic retail center of the community. The right of way on this street was 140 feet. The ROW is basically the space from property line to property line, and has not changed. It was designed to accommodate the railroad tracks that ran down the center of the street until they were removed in 1927. The streetscape that followed was almost entirely paved, including four rows of head-in parking, narrow 10-ft. walks, and two lanes in each direction separated by a narrow concrete median.

In the new design for Phase 1, patterned brick sidewalks were widened to 19 feet to allow room for sidewalk dining. The two single lane roadways and parking areas are separated by a 32-ft. wide Bermudagrass median, which includes an exposed aggregate walkway. Zelkova trees were initially planted along the sidewalk, but were replaced by Bosque elms in Phase 2; Willow oaks were planted in the median to provide a high shady canopy in the warm summer months.

Phase 2
Planning for Phase 2 of the Center Street Improvements began in 2013. The construction documents were completed in early 2014. Allison Platt & Associates teamed with The Wooten Company engineers to design two blocks of improvements that included intersection roundabouts and a continuation of the Phase 1 design.

In fall 2013, while construction drawings were being prepared, the city was awarded a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation under the 5th round of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) competitive grant program. The award of TIGER grant funds was based on the success of the first phase, leadership by the city's elected officials and staff, and many other city initiatives to revitalize the downtown. With this award the city was able to add a third block and the granite fountain to the plans.

The design for the Phase 2 work differed from Phase 1 in that the wide center median was narrowed between bulb outs to allow space for head-in angled parking, which store owners favored. The design features patterned brick sidewalks, three traffic roundabouts finished with recycled sandstone pavers, a 12-ft. granite fountain designed by the landscape architect in the center roundabout, as well as designated locations for two additional sculptures on the other two roundabouts. Other features include granite bollards; pedestrian lighting with SiteLink poles; speakers on the light poles to provide a continuous stream of music and available PA broadcast by the city; free Wi-Fi throughout Center Street; and a unique pedestrian park located at the center of each of the four blocks in the project area.

The completion of these four blocks has stimulated renewed interest in downtown living and businesses, including a recent purchase immediately south of the 200 block of south Central Street for a $10-15 million mixed use residential/commercial project. Based on the success of these improvements, the annual North Carolina Main Street Conference was held in Goldsboro for the first time. The conference broke attendance records, won high praise from city leaders all across the state, and was the ideal venue for the announcement of the Center Street project's "Best Outdoor Improvement' award for 2016.

Fountain
The fountain sculpture is called "CityScape.' "It is intended to represent the architectural expression of the heart of the city, where all citizens cross paths and create a sense of community," explains the designer of the fountain, landscape architect Allison Platt. "The sculpture began with an idea of granite columns representing buildings. The size was suggested by the scale of the street, since anything smaller would not have had the presence in that location. The exact configuration was developed by use of a 3D Sketchup model that allowed refinement of the design from all directions and specific colors and heights for each of the columns."

The fountain is at the "100% corner" in Goldsboro, the intersection of Walnut and N. Center Street, the two most important historic commercial streets in the city. The selection of granite in red, white, grey and black corresponds to the colors and historic buildings materials seen throughout the downtown.

"Although some citizens felt the sculpture was too modern for the historic downtown when it was first installed, very quickly it has become an icon, and countless photographs for numerous holiday cards, prom pictures, informal photos and even a wedding are now taken at the fountain."

In each of the four tallest columns there are tall jets and a ring of smaller jets and lights to create sufficient water pressure to allow the water to fall in interesting ways to the sloped red granite at the bottom, and from there into the drains for recirculation.

Since it was necessary for the roundabouts to have mountable curbs to accommodate truck turning radii, the idea emerged to use cobblestones to complement the sculptures and add interest to the intersections, which otherwise would have been a very large expanse of pavement.

Sculptures
There are four leased sculptures on N. Center Street, in addition to the plane at the entrance to the downtown at Center and Ash Street, which was recently refurbished by the Air Force and rededicated in March of 2016. Leasing the sculptures allows the city to keep a variety of artwork on display, with the thought that at some point citizens could decide if a particular sculpture should remain in place.

In the roundabout at N. Center Street and Mulberry, near City Hall, is the "Natural Embrace" sculpture by North Carolina artist Paul Hill (paulhillsculpture.com). This sculpture is constructed of Corten steel and fused glass, and represents the Venus Flytrap, which is both endangered and native to eastern North Carolina.

The interior of the roundabout at Spruce and S. Center showcases "Dreamsicle, constructed of orange painted steel by Nathan Pierce, of Cape Girardeau, Missouri (nspsculpture.com). The streetscape also features several smaller artworks: "The Flight' by North Carolina artist Phil Hathcock, and "Genesis' by Charles Pilkey.

As seen in LASN magazine, August 2016.