mrld.net blog

The City of Belfast has retained MRLD to prepare a master plan for the downtown and waterfront integrating economic development, green infrastructure, pedestrian and vehicular mobility, shore and harbor improvements, open space, streetscapes, light rail, branding / wayfinding and architectural / efficiency guidelines. The project team members include Smart Mobility, Urban Harbors Institute, Scott Simons Architects and Fore Solutions. Belfast is a unique Midcoast community with a great vibe and sense of place. Visit now! It is a regional hub for the arts, organic farming, businesses such as the Colburn’s, the oldest shoe store in the country (with great new inventory) and the restaurant / market / gallery, Chase’s Daily. The City is defined by it’s striking architecture, topography and panoramic views of Penobscot Bay. We are pleased to be taking part in one of the most dynamic urban design opportunities in Maine.

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MRLD is pleased to begin work on the design of a critical section of the Rockland Harbor Trail connecting Tillson Avenue with Lermond Cove. Improvements will include LED lighting, gardens, green vertical walls, sitting areas, a footbridge and scrims / slattings for the wastewater treatment facility buildings. The entire project is being carefully coordinated with the full redesign of the wastewater treatment facility - including the use of gray water - and the concept plan MRLD is preparing for the Thorndike Block on Main Street.

Terry Pinto, New Urbanist / Director of the Wastewater Treatment Facility

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We love designing and visiting vibrant places. The same can be said for listening to music at work and checking out our favorite bands at venues such as SPACE. In recent months, the office has held a low key “87 Songs” concert series. We’ve been fortunate to have such great artists as Brown Bird (Providence), Geoff Farina (Chicago), Chris Brokaw (Brooklyn and beyond) and Portland’s own Chriss Sutherland stop by for intimate shows of less than thirty people. Check out their music, buy a CD and catch them live if you can. 87 Songs will pick up again this fall with more of our favorite musicians.

Brown Bird (photo: Mitchell Rasor)

Geoff Farina and Chris Brokaw (photo: Mongiat Farina)

Chriss Sutherland (photo: Scott Sutherland)

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The Preble Street Resource Center Plaza

MRLD is please to be a member of the of Portland Public Market Host Committee in support of the Preble Street Resource Center on May 20th. MRLD in collaboration with James Sterling Architect designed both the Preble Street Resource Center and the Preble Street Teen Center. In describing the Preble Street Resource Center plaza, Maine Home + Design Magazine noted, “landscape architect Mitchell Rasor’s steel benches in the courtyard slant from high to low, offering a welcoming place to gather in the heart of the city for those utilizing the center.”

In addition to winning a 2008 AIA New England Merit Award, the Preble Street Resource Center received a 2006 AIA Maine Design Excellence Award. The jury cited ”its honesty, intelligence, and restraint in transforming a downtown street corner into an outdoor civic space that benefits users of the building and the neighborhood. It is an exceptional urban response to a challenging program using modest means. The project creatively reuses existing structures and incorporates such details as the bright colored lanterns to create a sense of welcome and presence. After their deliberations, the jury visited the site to find it animated by people congregating in the plaza on a late winter afternoon.”

MRLD has designed other social projects including Topsham Crossing, which was honored by the National Association of Homebuilders with an Award of Distinction for Innovation in Workforce Housing and as the Maine Association of Planners Project of the Year. The Lupine Terrace workforce housing neighborhood in Camden was honored as the Maine Association of Planners Project of the Year and as the New England Chapter of the American Association of Planners Project of the Year.

Highwood Square, a 21-unit affordable artist live / work project, designed by MRLD is currently under contruction in New Haven, CT.

Mitchell Rasor, while employed with Orcutt Associates, was the landscape designer for the original Portland Public Market, which was honored with a Congress for the New Urbanism Charter Award.

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Rockland was awarded a $600,000.00 Downtown Revitalization Grant from the Department of Economic and Community Development. MRLD in collaboration with Woodard & Curran, Smart Mobility and Scott Simons Architects completed the 2009 Rockland Downtown Revitalization Plan, which was the basis for the grant application.

rockland-downtown-master-plan.pdf

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Highwood Square, a collaboration with Ben Ledbetter Architect and Graftworks, is on schedule for completion in October. The mixed-use project includes 21 affordable artist live / work units, a gallery, a community room and commercial space. Two of the three buildings are historic structures with contemporary additions (third image below). Highwood Square includes a range of open spaces including a central “folded” common, performance areas, an open stormwater system and private gardens.

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MRLD is collaborating with Woodard & Curran and Smart Mobility on the Tillson Waterfront District Master Plan. The Master Plan includs an ideal build-out, the enabling codes and the the necessary infrastructure to support the community’s vision for the area. The underlying urban design principles for the Master Plan include form-based architecture and blocks, green infrastructure and context sensitive transportation solutions - creating a framework of new streets and buildings that maximize the economic, environmental and civic capacities of the site - allowing the District to absorb growth in a flexible, but responsible manner. In light of the increasing demand to live in walkable / mixed-use communities, the Tillson Waterfront District Master Plan is a model for sustainable urban revitalization in Maine.The City created a Tillson TIF District. The Master Plan provides detailed designs and cost estimates for the build-out in order for the City to strategically invest in the area, leveraging public / private partnerships

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MRLD’s Shore and Harbor Master Plan was accepted by the Town on April 21. The project was coordinated with the Orton Family Foundation Heart & Soul Soul Community Planning Process. The Shore and Harbor Master Plan was informed by environmental, regulatory and economic development issues as well as the community’s core values articulated through numerous workshops and a Heart & Soul Charrette.

The Master Plan represents a strategic effort on the part of the community to link Main Street, the economy, community identity and natural resources with the function of the working waterfront. Specific recommendations include build-out scenarios, infrastructure improvements, low impact development stormwater systems, a new waterfront park, a multi-modal facility, community branding and wayfinding, educational exhibits and the integration of new pedestrian improvements with existing and proposed Town-wide trails.

The Shore and Harbor Master Plan also looks at long-term climate change issues and how the anticipated rise in sea level will impact the economy and function of the downtown.

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Landis Hudson, Executive Director of Maine Rivers, surveys the Mousam River

A photo of a recent Mousam River flood event. The proposed park is across the street from this home. The park will be designed following FEMA guidelines 

The City Council recently adopted the Rockland Downtown Revitalization Plan prepared by MRLD, Woodard and Curran, Smart Mobility and Scott Simons Architects. In 2010, The National Trust for Historic Preservation named Rockland as one of America’s Dozen Distinctive Designations. In 2009, Budget Travel named Rockland the second coolest town in the United States. Book your tickets today. The Downtown Plan is filled with new strategies for redevelopment, pedestrian improvements, architecture and parks. The City as well as Rockland Maine Street, Inc. use the Plan as a framework for guiding public / private investment and maintaining a long-term vision for the downtown.

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MRLD in collaboration with TFH Architects prepared a master plan for the East End Beach in Portland. The proposal, East End Shoal, is a land form rising from Casco Bay, seamlessly blending with the the Eastern Promenade designed by Olmsted. The majority of the programmatic elements are placed beneath the landform while the waterfront is made more accessible by realigning pedestrian and vehicular circulation patterns.

east-end-shoal.pdf

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The Westbrook City Council unanimously adopted MRLD’s Downtown Plan on November 2. The Plan was developed using context sensitive solution transportation and green urbanism strategies leading to designs for “complete” and “green” street systems, the identification of redevelopment parcels and buildings and recommendations for encouraging contemporary architecture and technologies within a historic district.

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Mitchell Rasor, MRLD Principal, spoke at the Urban Forestry conference on the form and function of constructed landscapes in shaping the design of cities.

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The Portland City Council accepted the Reclaiming Franklin Street Report prepared by MRLD and Smart Mobility. The goal of the report was to show different options for redesigning Franklin Arterial as an urban street contributing to the form, economy and culture of the city. The City is proceeding to implement short-term recommendations from the report.

A proposed view of Franklin Street with on-street parking, esplanades, sidewalks and new buildings utilizing the land reclaimed from the expanse of the existing right-of-way.  

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Mitchell Rasor, MRLD Principal, will be the keynote speaker at the Community Forest Workshop on October 16 in Bangor, ME and and October 23 in Bath, ME. The events are sponsored by the Maine Association of Conservation Commissions, the Maine Forest Service and the Community Forest Collaborative (part of the Trust for Public Lands). Mitchell is the author of the article “Civic Nature: Town Forests and the Origins of Public Land in Maine”. The article describes how community forests should be viewed as a part of a town’s formative/process infrastructure system - much like what is referred to as landscape urbanism today - as well as providing an overview of the changing roles of community forests since their inception.

civic-nature.pdf

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