At a glance
"The goal was to create a vision from the work that the community had already done as far as further developing what they wanted in the comprehensive plan,” said Dean, chair of the Department of Architecture and Design.
The village of Savona recently received some help with envisioning its comprehensive plan after Alfred State architecture students presented their designs for the future layout of the municipality Oct. 28 at the Campbell-Savona Elementary School.
Village officials and roughly 25 residents listened as 10 students in Professor William Dean’s Urban Design Studio class shared their visions for five sections of Savona. These included a residential area, the Cohocton River Trail, the western side of town, a mixed use commercial area, which would feature a senior living community, and the Four Corners area, which would include a boutique hotel and a Dollar General that matches the look of the surrounding buildings.
“The goal was to create a vision from the work that the community had already done as far as further developing what they wanted in the comprehensive plan,” said Dean, chair of the Department of Architecture and Design. “We tried to remain as faithful to that document as possible. That’s not to say that the students didn’t bring their own design experience into it, but I kept driving home the point throughout the project that we wanted our work to be an extension of the comprehensive plan.”
The students spent eight weeks on the project, which began in August with a tour of the village led by Mayor Gregge Harrian, and included an interim critique by a panel composed of Harrian; Nicolette Barber, a planner from HUNT Engineers, Architects and Surveyors out of Horseheads; and members of the village’s Comprehensive Plan Committee.
“After meeting with the mayor and the committee, the students took their comments to heart and continued to develop their designs for the final presentation,” Dean said.
According to Dean, the students’ designs received a lot of positive feedback throughout the process and were well-received during the presentation.
Brittany Varengo, an architectural technology major from Syracuse, said, “We were able to connect to the people on a personal level and know that our hard work was appreciated.”