Contact: Phil Hearn
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Thoughtful, long-term planning today could transform the hurricane-battered Mississippi Gulf Coast of tomorrow into an environmentally friendly "coastal paradise" or "Central Park of the Deep South."
So say 150 Mississippi State students who participated in a recent, weeklong exploration of coastal reconstruction issues stemming from last summer's Hurricane Katrina, arguably the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.
"The primary goal of the charrette was as an educational exercise for the students; however, we will be sending copies of the report to local and state officials," said Jason B. Walker, an assistant professor of landscape architecture and coordinator of the January event.
A report stemming from the charrette--another name for an architectural brainstorming session-- included recommendations to:
--Begin establishing a "coastal paradise" by moving the main CSX railroad freight line and U.S. Highway 90 inland to protect them from future weather catastrophes.
--Create a 75-mile Mississippi coastline punctuated with scenic pockets of open space and parklands in some areas to contrast clusters of urban development at other, more protected locations, while restoring much of the area's natural ecology.
--Edge the northern side of the half-mile-deep beachfront buffer zone with a commuter rail system away from the water, using the existing freight rail tracks to serve both the new parklands and urban developments.
--Develop inland growth centers to attract property owners away from the beach.
--Provide transit centers every five or six miles along the new commuter rail system, served by loop roads from the highway or train to the beachfront.
--Ensure a more environmentally friendly and scenic beachfront seascape by re-vegetating the area with live oak trees, maritime systems and salt marshes.
The charrette was organized by the Denver, Colo.-based Design Workshop Inc. in partnership with MSU's landscape architecture department. Leading the effort was Design Workshop's chief design officer, Todd Johnson, founding partner Don Ensign and landscape architect Jeremiah Dumas, a Prentiss native and MSU alumnus.
Other key participants included Gulfport Mayor Brent Warr, Mississippi Development Authority director Leland Speed, ecologist and author Janisse Ray, and geologist Allen Lowrie.
"The students contributed a great deal of time and effort to the plan," said Michael Seymour, also an MSU assistant professor of landscape architecture. "This was more than just a class project to them. They clearly wanted to give something back to the coast communities."
Warr, one of the elected coast officials who would have to make such a plan happen, spent parts of two days meeting with the MSU students--providing some real-world perspectives concerning financial considerations and political constraints.
"You are talking about three counties (Jackson, Harrison and Hancock), or a regional scale," Walker noted. "Cost is a factor, but good planning/design that evaluates and addresses economic, community, environment and artistic issues will, in the long run, produce a viable solution. If you address only one or two issues, what are you solving?"
Other major sponsors included Michael Hatcher & Associates of Memphis, Tenn., and The Landscape Studio of Hattiesburg.
In addition to landscape architecture, the collaborative effort involved students in architecture, civil engineering, environmental planning, real estate, and business. The university's Carl Small Town Center, the College of Architecture, Art and Design's research and extension arm, also was represented.
Divided into 24 teams, each group was given a six-mile-by-six-mile parcel and asked to explore the economic, environmental, social, and aesthetic aspects of the land in terms of open space, transportation, land use, and a projected 20 percent population growth rate over the next 20 years.
Eventually, a single final map 25 feet wide by 12.5 feet high was produced, integrating the work of each team into one cohesive plan for the region.
"One student even called Mississippi 'The Central Park of the Deep South'," said Walker, "and created a drawing that shows the lush green of the rural region edged by surrounding urbanization of New Orleans and Mobile, Ala.
"It may take 50 years to remake the coast and make it work economically and socially for people," he added. "But planning could begin now, recognizing we can't just go on living the way we used to."
For more information on the project, contact Walker at (662) 325-4561 or jwalker@lalc.msstate.edu.