After a nice break for Christmas and New Years, we are ready to complete our projects for our final presentation in Minden. We are making some last changes to the courtyard facade, finishing plans and elevations, and placing our work onto a template to print tomorrow. Tomorrow we will also laser cut and build our physical model. We made the paper in Minden again!
Fruits of LSU labor to be put on display
Written by Angel Haney
Monday, 03 January 2011
Webster Parish residents will be able to see the potential of some downtown Minden buildings in an upcoming presentation.
Students and faculty from the LSU School of Architecture recently worked and lived in Minden for two weeks, departing on December 23, to provide assistance to Minden Main Street in their efforts to cultivate the community.
The program, titled Minden Main Street Workshops, is the first in a series of workshops to connect environmentally responsible design practices with historic preservation strategies to accelerate sustainable development in Louisiana’s small towns and cities.
The final presentations of the work will be held at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 5, at City Artworks in downtown Minden.
Pattie Odom, Minden Main Street director, said the public is invited and encouraged to attend.
“The students did a similar program and presentation in McComb, Mississippi,” she said. “They had 100 people turn out for the final presentations. We would like to match, if not beat, that number. We should show our support for these students.”
The 12 participating students worked in three groups, each one focusing on one building. The buildings selected were the old Imperial Hotel, which the students want to see turned back into a hotel, Webb Hardware and the Crichton Building, both of which are being proposed as apartments.
“It’s been really exciting to see the students’ concepts and visions,” Odom said. “Those who attend the event can look for some very professional presentations. I can’t imagine the value of the work they have done for us. I couldn’t tell you what the cost would be to hire a professional to come in and do this and their service has been amazing.”
The buildings selected for the project do have the potential to be developed and Odom hopes to see that happen.
“These ideas can easily be turned into a reality,” she said. “All this time and effort has been put forth by Minden Main Street and Downtown Development to make this happen. We plan on developing downtown to its fullest potential.”
For more information on the project, check out the blog the students and faculty kept during their experience at www.lsuminden.blogspot.com.
