Placemaking recommendations for Groton City's Thames Street to be reviewed Thursday
Groton — People will have an opportunity on Thursday to share their thoughts on recommendations to make Thames Street in the City of Groton "a more vibrant, walkable, and welcoming corridor."
The city will hold its last in a series of public workshops for people to offer their opinions for a plan focused on placemaking on Thames Street. The workshop, titled “Prioritizing Placemaking Recommendations for Thames Street,” will be held via Zoom from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
During the workshop, placemaking recommendations and preliminary concept plans, developed based on feedback from the community and city staff, will be reviewed, city economic development specialist Cierra Patrick said.
“In this last public session, we will review the placemaking recommendations generated from your ideas, and ask for your help in prioritizing which recommendations should be implemented first," the event notice states.
Placemaking is a "multi-faceted approach to plan and design public spaces" and "capitalizes on local community assets, inspiration and potential, creating public spaces that promote health, happiness and comfort in our neighborhoods," according to the city.
The city held a workshop on Thames Street last summer, where residents shared ideas from finding ways to alleviate parking shortages to sprucing up the Pollution Abatement Facility.
Since then, the city was awarded a grant from Preservation Connecticut to help develop plans for the Thames Street corridor, Patrick said. The city began working in September with Ninigret Partners and Interface Studio to create a one- to three-year "Placemaking Implementation Plan geared towards making Thames Street a more vibrant, walkable, and welcoming corridor."
The process has included community engagements, such as a public art installation at Thames View Park, a "Thames View Park Pop-up Party where the community gathered to enjoy each other’s company and explore possible improvements for Thames Street and Thames View Park," outdoor in-person information sessions and virtual workshops to discuss preliminary designs, and an interactive webpage, Patrick said.
Façade improvements, dock rehabilitation and seasonal programs and events were rated as top priorities by people, according to the website. The city previously was awarded a grant for a handicapped-accessible kayak boat launch at Thames View Park.
Through the website, people can take virtual tours and share their ideas for improving the pedestrian experience along Thames Street, the K.E. Streeter Boat Launch underneath the Gold Star Bridge and Fairview Avenue pedestrian connection, and the Thames View Park and water treatment plant area.
City of Groton Mayor Keith Hedrick said the city is doing everything it can to make Thames Street viable and the workshops are an opportunity to get feedback from the public in an effort to move things forward.
Once completed, the plan will be presented to the City Council.
People who wish to participate in Thursday's workshop can visit bit.ly/thames-street.
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