Course Purpose, Description, and Structural Content Overview

The main point of contact for this project will be Chris Ohm, a recent graduate of the graduate school of preservation here at the college, who is head curator and manager for the Summerville Dorchester Museum. It is an organization of great promise and many needs. We will try to help and in return we will add to each of out portfolios and, if you like, even be considered for a job. We will also be presenting to various members of the planning and design community there in Summerville as may be practical.

The structure for this course is in three parts as follows:

Background Research

The first is a literature search and interim background report dealing with four different perspectives in preservation today conducted by four teams. We will simultaneously be making a field trip to the town and area and collecting on site information, meeting with people and familiarizing ourselves first hand with the situation there. Each team will present a power point and handout of their findings to enable the other members of the class to benefit from their research.

Team 1: Reinventing Downtown based on Moe and Wilkie’s book and a review of the current town of Summerville comprehensive planning (https://www.bcdcog.com/SummervilleCompPlan.htm);

Team 2: Selling History based on Stephanie Yuhl’s book and a review of the existing efforts at downtown revitalization (https://www.summervilledream.org/)

Team 3: Saving the Countryside based on a review of the first four chapters of Stokes et al’s book and the area wide plans (https://www.ourregionourplan.org/resources.htm); and the new planning initiatives for the Mead Westvaco tract and the new LEED standards for community building;