May 1, 2012: After more than a semester of research, site visits, studio design work, and critiques; a conceptual site plan has been developed for the Easton Point Park. The summary of this project’s process, including the five student designs are being complied and edited into a project booklet. Once the booklet goes through publication, it will be distributed and presented to Easton Town Council members and community partners for feedback. The next step will be translating the conceptual plan into a phased implementation plan. Please check back over the next few weeks for a link to preview the project booklet once it is complete.

 November 29, 2011: On Thursday, November 17th, the students from Philadelphia University presented their designs for the 11 acre waterfront Easton Point Park to a group of surrounding community members. Five very unique ideas were offered, all including a series of paths and trails, open lawn area, waterfront vistas, and outdoor rooms for public gathering. More specialized elements ranged from a “cultural axis” to a performance amphitheatre, a waterfront teaching/instructional area, and elevated pavilions for viewing opportunities.The next step in this community design process will be to use each plan towards the development of one master site plan for the town of Easton.

October 17, 2011: The unveiling of five preliminary designs for Easton Point drew some very engaged members of the community to Easton Volunteer Fire Department last Thursday. Five landscape architecture students from Philadelphia University took recommendations from the community to design plans for the property to provide access to Easton’s waterfront.

The students, Matt Michelson, T.J. McIntyre, Mike Hill, Thomas Mahone, and Lee Newman, are in their fifth and final year of school. Richard Newton, a partner at the landscape architecture firm OLIN, and Elise Geyelin co-teach this fifth year studio.

Before unveiling their designs, the students discussed the history and ecology of the property, as well as their guiding design principles (taken from community input).

Those in attendance were generous with their feedback, and now the students will consider those messages as they work on a final design for the property. In November, the students will once again return to Easton to present their final plan.

On September first, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy’s Center for Towns will host an exhibition of images collected from the community during the past month about what they would love to see or like to have changed at the property, referred to as the Easton Point Project.  Attendants will have the opportunity to review images and comment on them, as well as to discuss ideas with the project’s design partner, a landscape architecture studio  from Philadelphia University.  This is the second step in a five part community design process.  Next, the landscape architecture studio will prepare preliminary plans for the property to be presented back to members of the Easton community in November and December.  Final plan presentation will take place in the Spring of 2012.

Join us on September 1, 2011 when we will exhibit the photos taken by the community at a public meeting with the Philadelphia University design studio.  The meeting will be held from 6:30-8pm at the Easton Fire Hall at 315 Aurora Park Drive, Easton, MD 21601. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join in viewing the first stage of the collective community vision!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to contribute photographs and comments about what they would like to see at 672 Glenwood Avenue.  Your collective input is sure to result in a stronger vision that benefits Easton residents, visitors, and the unique habitat of the Tred Avon River.

We are still sifting through responses, but the shared desire to see a boathouse for rowing shells and other human powered watercraft was overwhelming!  An emphasis on pedestrian rather than vehicular activities, restoration of the natural landscape, and provision of places to enjoy food – either casually through grills and picnic tables, or more formally through the inclusion of a restaurant, were also expressed.

If you have not returned your camera, please do so.  Drop boxes will be available at the Easton Town Office at 14 South Harrison Street, open 8:30am-4pm and the Irish Crab Waterside Pub, 975 Port Street, 10:30am-7pm. 

On June 9^th 53 members of the community gathered at Easton Elementary School’s Moton Building to discuss the Easton Point property. Following a presentation of the project and the upcoming community design process, members of the community split into groups to discuss waterfront properties they love, how they would use waterfront access in Easton, and how access to the water would change their appreciation of their town. For a recap of the meeting as well as to read and contribute to these conversations, click here.