East New Market ‹ Center for Towns

East New Market

In Summer 2009, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) staff were approached by Dorchester County Tourism Director Amanda Fenstermaker. Ms. Fenstermaker expressed to ESLC Town Planning Manager Jake Day a concern that the Town of East New Market was in a position to lose a sacred jewel – Friendship Hall. This precipitated an ongoing conversation about the direction and needs of the town between Amanda, Jake and East New Market’s venerable Mayor Caroline Cline. Simultaneously, Jake was in early talks with eventual partner Urban Dialogues, Inc. Director B.D. Wortham-Galvin, PhD about an idea for establishing a community design practice for small towns that empowered residents in an authentic process.

The coincidence was too much to ignore. We – a team of residents, town leaders, Urban Dialogues, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy and eventually many more – merged our missions, our ideas and our methods into the first application of place work[s]hop for the Town of East New Market.

Phase 1: Community Research | Understanding Place

First, the community teaches the designers. The community has immense historic, socio-cultural, economic, geographic knowledge that were best imparted early in the process to enable the designers and planners to best be of service. During this phase we begin planning events and logistics for future phases. Additionally, we brought on a University of Maryland recent graduate as a researcher to conduct mapping, interviews and other research to support Phase 3 work.

PHASE 2: Community Investigations | Framing the Right Questions

Second, the community does its field research. This helps bring into focus the critical question(s) facing the community. First we have a discussion about what we are investigating, then how we investigate, finally we set the community free to discover its own assets and challenges. Visual or audio documentation are the ideal media.

PHASE 3: Community Workshop | Discovering Collective Answers

The community then begins to answer its questions. This is a process of design and story-telling, one of solving and negotiating. This is how we come to a truly community-driven set of answers. Most importantly, this process brings in many volunteer architects, landscape architects, planners, historic preservationists, conservationists, economic development professionals and tourism professionals. We reform the well-known ‘charrette’ model to equally value the local capital brought to the table by residents and the creative capital brought to the table by our volunteers. Over a two-day design workshop, we identified values, visions and strategies for East New Market.

PHASE 4: Empowerment | Shifting Capital

Finally, the answers developed are shifted into the form of solutions and into the hands of town leaders. Solutions are primarily short-term and primarily tied to realistic tasks that town leaders can take on. We have already begun this process by working with town leaders on implementing recommendations related to Friendship Hall and the old Fire Department building. Additionally, the Town has already begun to seek guidance on updating its Historic District ordinances.

Partners

The place work[s]hop Team

We are incredibly grateful for the team of partners, volunteers and citizens that made place work[s]hop possible in East New Market. A special thank you goes to the citizens of East New Market who invested into this process more energy than could ever have been expected.

University Partners

University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation – Graduate Program in Historic Preservation
HISP619F—Culture and Sustainability, Spring 2010
Patrick Alley, Alex Baca, Jonathan Beech, Rachel Cousart, Alejandra De La Torre, Susan Generazio, Lauren Knight, Gilbert Mbeng, Jessica Pagan, Lauren Schiszik, Elena Sylos Labini

Volunteers

Elizabeth Beckley (Preservation Maryland), Marc Bramble (East New Market Senior Apartments), David Carrier (Commissioner, Town of East New Market), Caroline Cline (Mayor, Town of East New Market), Megan D’Arcy (ESLC), Jacob Day (ESLC), Judith Decker (West Rockhill Township), Kate Donovan (Dorchester County GIS), Morgan Ellis (ESLC), Mathew Estes (Anthropologist), Rob Etgen (ESLC), Keith Fisher, AIA (Fisher Architecture), Amanda Fenstermaker (Dorchester County Tourism),Scott Freeman (Town of East New Market), Kathy Holsberg (East New Market), Shane Johnston (Peter Johnston Associates), Eben Kuchmann (Peter Johnston Associates), Barbara Lockhart (Historic Preservationist), Ann Marie McKay (East New Market), Cindy Messick (East New Market), Pete Messick (East New Market), William Neville, AICP (Planner), Amy Owsley (ESLC), Keena Perry (East New Market), Mahmoud Riad (Architect), Susan Rickwood (East New Market), Marva Sampson (East New Market), Laura Sanford (ESLC), Shirley Satterfield (East New Market), Kevin Shertz, AIA (Shertz Architecture), David Tolley (East New Market), Lauren Trice (Historic Preservationist), Jeremy Wernig (East New Market), BD Wortham-Galvin, PhD Urban Dialogues/University of Maryland) Tonda Williams (Harriet Tubman Byway), Len Zeller (East New Market)