Kent State’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design students have been commissioned to create new design concepts for a redevelopment site in Warren, Ohio, as recently featured in the Youngstown Business Journal.
For over 20 years, St. Joseph Riverside Hospital has been vacant and plaguing the city, but now the city is on track to remedying the situation.
According to the Business Journal, Wiley Runnestrand said he sees Kent State playing a role in presenting a treasure trove of ideas for a site the city doesn’t know what to do with yet.
“It’s a pretty rare opportunity to take 15 acres of riverfront property in the heart of the city and imagine something that takes the community to the next level,” Runnestrand told the Business Journal.
Bill Willoughby, associate professor and design innovation fellow, has also been commissioned.
“What we’re trying to do is offer ideas,” Willoughby told the Business Journal. “We’ll try to offer not just a vision, but multiple ones. We had 40 to 50 students offering ideas. It was a pretty extensive project over a couple of years.”
Two design ideas were featured in the article, presented by Logan Nelson, senior architecture student and Molly Zwack, senior architecture student.
The students’ objective is not to produce a winning design for the site, but to propel discussions of potential uses and ideas for the future.
To read the Business Journal’s growth report for the project, please visit www.businessjournaldaily.com/article/new-ideas-from-next-generation/.
WKBN also reported on the process at www.wytv.com/news/local-news/kent-state-students-present-plans-for-st-joes-site-in-warren/, and WFMJ at Kent State architecture students propose ideas for St. Joe's pro - WFMJ.com.