Willimantic Connecticut: Land Art Generator Workshop

Willimantic Land Art Generator Workshop

On March 3, 2017, the Institute for Sustainable Energy (ISE) at Eastern Connecticut State University and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) Office of the Arts hosted the Land Art Generator Initiative for a workshop in Willimantic.

Participants in this afternoon “think tank” put their heads together around the design challenges of the WWP site.

During the workshop, community members investigated how renewable energy technologies can be incorporated into public art and creative placemaking opportunities so that the intervention on this exciting site will bring the greatest benefit to the city and its people.

Design Site
Willimantic Whitewater Partnership (WWP) has recently remediated a prominent site in the heart of Willimantic, Connecticut and prepared it for development. Soon it will be home to a new whitewater park and other public amenities that WWP would like to power with on-site renewable energy.

LAGI is working with WWP in partnership with the Institute for Sustainable Energy (ISE) at Eastern Connecticut State University and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) Office of the Arts.

Together we will be launching an invited design competition to bring forward the best ideas for how to utilize the parcel to generate clean energy while contributing to the creativity and beauty of the development.

The WWP site offers the perfect opportunity to integrate renewable energy, with a richness of resources, including hydro, solar, and wind. The site, in such a prominent location in downtown Willimantic, is ideally situated to be a catalyst for economic and community development.

Interestingly, there is a history of energy around the property. Hydro power provided much of the energy used to run the Smithville cotton mills. Two generations of dam expansions provided increases in power output. There still remains the option to bring small scale run-of-the-river hydro power generation back to the site.

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