WESTFIELD – First-semester freshmen in the Honors Program at Westfield State University presented their ideas on riverfront development to residents at the Westfield Athenaeum Monday, after participating in a class called the “Discover Westfield” Learning Community.
Westfield State English professor Vanessa Diana introduces the “Discover Westfield” Learning Community project at the Athenaeum Monday. (Photo by Amy Porter)
The class, a combination of English composition and introduction to community planning co-taught by professors Vanessa Diana and Marijoan Bull used Westfield as its text, and civic engagement as its goal for the new students.
“Westfield State is trying to do a good job connecting the campus with the community, and getting freshmen involved from the start,” Diana said.
The students spent the semester taking trips downtown for experiential learning activities. They sketched facades of buildings, visited the museum in the Athenaeum, did the walking tour “Whipping Around Westfield,” volunteered for HOOT day of service, wrote promotional pieces for the Farmer’s Market, and explored segments of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail. They also measured sidewalks, lot frontages and street widths.
The students also interviewed Barbara Trant at Westfield Creative Arts, Carol Martin at Westfield Whip manufacturing, Joe Giffune, representing the Friends of the Columbia Greenway Rail Trail and Bob Plasse and James Homan of Westfield on Weekends.
“We see you all as role models in what civic engagement looks like in practice,” Diana said.
Julie Carroll, a Westfield State freshman from Southwick, talks about her group’s ideas for the riverfront area. (Photo by Amy Porter)
The final project for the students was to dream a future for the riverfront area. After researching designs and planning concepts for similar developments in other cities, they produced posters of ideas that might translate to Westfield, and built integrated models of the riverfront area.
At the presentation, several dozen community members including many who had helped on various phases of the class, split up and visited the poster projects, hearing about the concepts from the students. Then, after a short break, they took a look at the models and the designs.
Julie Carroll, a freshman from Southwick, talked about a multi-element design for the Riverfront, which included a restaurant, walkway and boathouses. Her group also suggested incorporating Westfield brands and a Westfield identity, such as whip-making and black squirrels, into the space.
Westfield State students Pollyanna Pyshnyak of Westfield and Sydney Demarais of Haverill explain their public gardens concept to James Homan of Westfield on Weekends and city councilor Ralph J. Figy. (Photo by Amy Porter)
Pollyanna Pyshnyak, a Westfield High School graduate and Sydney Demarais of Haverill advocated public gardens and landscaping for the area, maintained by community volunteers and groups such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. They envisioned the gardens in the waterworks section, close to the Rail Trail, and said they would provide physical, economic and mental health benefits.
Other ideas in the room included recreation in the form of ziplining and river races, and public art murals and sculptures. One student suggested Westfield do a project similar to the giant sneaker sculptures in Springfield, which would involve businesses and raise money for the riverfront. Another group suggested different types of playscapes which might be built on the land between the river and railroad bridges, stamped with Westfield’s unique identity.
