Main Street Reimagined & District Identifiers | Worcester, MA

Project Summary
The City of Worcester and the Worcester Cultural Coalition recognize creative placemaking, cultural economic development and the arts as powerful tools to improve quality of life and as an opportunity to reimagine the city. ​The Urban Culture Institute is working with project partners to develop and implement the placemaking strategy. 

PHASE ONE: Main Street Reimagined 
Main Street Reimagined complements Worcester's current downtown artery reconstruction as a Complete Street. From north to south, the 1.2-mile long Main Street project stretches from the intersections of Lincoln Square (Highland Street/Belmont Street) in the north to Chandler Street/Madison Street in the south. The reconfigured Main Street will feature bicycle lanes and wider sidewalks with landscaping and street furnishings. Three new plazas will bring more attractive, welcoming frontages to the three downtown theaters along Main Street: the Hanover Theatre, Mechanics Hall and The Palladium. The overall goal is to increase walkability and vibrancy along the Main Street corridor through wayfinding and public art while taking into consideration activation and connectivity between primary nodes. 

Main Street Reimagined is expected to create an understanding of the city's place in time and sense of place. The overarching theme is to celebrate Worcester’s major achievements, its tradition of innovation, the past, present and future. Worcester was established as a town in 1722, became county seat of Worcester County in 1731, and incorporated as a city in 1848. Highlights of its industrial past include the development of the Smiley Face (Harvey Ball, 1963) and the first spacesuit (David Clark Company, 1965). In July 1776, Worcester residents witnessed the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in New England. The Free Soil (anti-slavery) Party was founded here in 1848 and the first national convention of women advocating women's suffrage took place in 1850. Like many American cities Worcester is comprised of a diverse array of neighborhoods that have evolved and experienced continuous change and waves of immigration over time. The Worcester Historical Museum's ongoing exhibition program, extensive collections and research library holdings document the city's rich past. Currently, Worcester is experiencing a renaissance, sparked by the tireless joint efforts of its administration and neighborhoods in partnership with civic, economic, academic and cultural institutions as well as the non-profit community.

Themes
The Main Street Reimagined project is conceived to reflect elements of Worcester’s history, culture and community through the predominant themes of creativity, innovation and revolution.


PHASE TWO: District Identifiers
Selbert Perkins Design Collaborative previously developed a citywide wayfinding plan for the City of Worcester. Artist-designed wayfinding elements for up to 14 locations throughout the city incorporating public art into District Identifiers will be implemented in the second phase of the Main Street reconstruction project.

DISTRICT IDENTIFIERS PUBLIC MEETING
Wednesday, March 13, 2019 at 6 p.m.
Worcester PopUp, 20 Franklin Street, Worcester, MA
For more information click here.
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MAIN STREET REIMAGINED
March 2019 Update
The following creative placemaking projects are in progress:
  1. Water feature on the redesigned Carroll Plaza fronting the Hanover Theatre by Ross Miller 
  2. Large-scale industry-inspired bench at Mechanics Hall by Ray Dunetz and Bartek Konieczny​ 
  3. Celebratory women's achievement sculpture of abolitionist and radical social reformer Abby Kelly Foster at Mechanics Hall (artist selection process TBA) 
  4. Light art by Stephen Knapp Estate (details TBD)
Further, an effort is underway to revise artist procurement legislation in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Main Street Reimagined Public Art & Streetscape Design RFP
The RFP requesting professional artistic design & fabrication services for various furnishings & streetscape art was administered by the City of Worcester Executive Office of Economic Development in 2018. Eligible were artists, artist teams, and design professionals with experience in public art and monumental features. Professionals residing in or with studio space in the city of Worcester and the New England region were encouraged to apply.
Download the RFP Bid Details.

Overview of Main Street Reimagined Components
Creative placemaking streetscape elements and budgets
The City asked for proposals in five public art categories (see RFP for details): 
  • Artistic screening ($40,000-$65,000 budget)
  • Lighting installation ($60,000 budget)
  • Activity nodes at the following 6 locations:
    • ​Federal Street ($30,000 budget)
      Chatham Street ($20,000 budget)
      Harrington Corner ($10,000 budget)
      Maple Street ($10,000 budget)
      Mechanics Hall ($60,000 budget)
      George Street ($10,000 budget)
  • Benches (5,000 budget each)
  • Bicycle racks ($7,500 budget for set of 8)

​Public art nodes
Three newly configured plazas will feature landscaping, public art and lighting design:
  • Carroll Plaza in front of the Hanover Theatre
  • Mechanics Hall, Main Street at Walnut Street  
  • The Palladium, Main Street at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard 

Press & Releases
Public Meeting on District Identifiers, March 13. City of Worcester Press Release,
March 8, 2019.

Call for Artists: Main Street Reimagined. City of Worcester Press Release,
​June 12, 2018.

​Luttrell, Aviva. "Here's how Worcester Plans to Use $11M and Three Performing Arts Venues to Transform Main Street." masslive.com, April 3, 2018.

Call to Worcester Artists and Poets: Main Street Reimagined. Urban Culture Institute, July 2017.
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Foskett, Steven. "Fine-tuning Suggested for Worcester’s Planned Main Street Revamp." Telegram & Gazette, December 7, 2016.

Also visit the City of Worcester Main Street Reimagined Webpage.

Contact
For additional information please email Christina Lanzl.