A public design workshop or “charrette” was held in Larison Hall at Bucknell on the edge of the Bull Run Greenway study area on November 10 to collect input from the public about their vision and ideas for the public parkland in the center of Lewisburg Borough along Bull Run.  The design consultant, Brian Auman, Landscape Architect, gave a presentation on the history and scope of the project (slides available for download here: Design Workshop Presentation- final) and then directed participants to facilitated breakout groups set up to prompt input from attendees on six different topics.  There was even a display set up by the AP Earth Science class from the Lewisburg Area High School showing their findings from stream studies and archaeological digs on the site earlier in the fall.

The Idea Boards from that charrette are now on display at the Public Library for Union County for general review and comment.  People are asked to look them over and then fill out comment cards and leave them in the suggestion box in the center of the display.  Everyone can help with the goal of creating a more functional, aesthetic, and sustainable pedestrian- and bike-friendly spine connecting downtown and the university campus which will enhance visitor capacity, economic viability, and the overall livability of the Borough.

The site for the Greenway Planning Project is a continuous zone of public open space running along Bull Run Creek (also known as Limestone Run) from Danny Green Field on St Mary Street, past Phase II of the Buffalo Valley Rail Trail, through Hufnagle Park and Kidsburg Playground, and extending south along 6th Street to meet the Bucknell University campus.  It includes an array of existing park program areas:  Little League fields, playgrounds, unstructured open space, a section of rail trail, a covered pedestrian bridge, an exercise course, parking, and formally organized park open space with a gazebo and small amphitheater.  Also part of the site is the right of way of S 6th Street, including sidewalks, roadway and other infrastructure.  The area lies almost entirely within the 100 year floodplain.

This project allows the community to revisit planning for the Bull Run Greenway now that much of the initial visioning from the Lewisburg Neighborhoods Task Force Report from 2004 has been realized.  The project will propose enhancements to the recreation functions of the park, and also work to incorporate S 6th Street along with the recently acquired flood mitigated properties between the street and the creek into Hufnagle Park proper.  In addition, it will assess the public floodplain’s potential to mitigate flood impacts on the surrounding neighborhoods even as it enhances water quality and improves habitat.  The goal is to outline future development for the coming decades.

The Idea Boards are working documents, covered with notes and comments, scribbles and checkmarks.  They also have photos of possible options or elements to be incorporated collaged onto them.  They are not in any way intended to be read as actual designs but rather as prompts to jog your memory or bring suggestions to the fore.  The breakout group subject areas were “Being Green” on landscaping, “We Need to Talk” on streamscape design, “Here We Are Now Entertain Us” on entertainment venues, “Creating Connections” on transportation and circulation, “Future of Recreation” on programming and facilities, and “People Places” on informal gathering places.  Some of the boards include Visual Preference Assessments which show pictures across a spectrum of possibilities, for example in terms of stream channel construction (from concrete-lined to entirely naturalistic) or landscaping (from heavily manicured to freeform and organic).  Participants were asked to register what part of the spectrum they were most drawn to.  Those spectra will also be making an appearance in an online survey that will be circulating shortly.

The comments and discussions and survey input will all be taken into account as the consultants move into the design phase of the project.  Design options will be made public in late winter.  They will be presented to the Borough Council and also open for review and comment at that time.  The end date for the final plan is September 2016.

This project has been made possible in part by grant funding from the Community Conservation Partnerships Program, Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund, under the administration of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation.  We would also like to extend thanks to the Public Library for Union County for generously sharing their space.  Project consultants are Brian S. Auman Landscape Architect, Lewisburg, and LandStudies, Lititz.