Architects asked to imagine redesigns to Winchester's Waterfield commuter rail lot

What if you could walk from Church Street across from Le Patisserie onto the commuter rail tracks?

Or what if Waterfield Road along the Town Common had a winding cobbled-stone path that passed by townhouses, storefronts and sidewalk cafes then ended at the train platform?

These are just some of the possibilities that architects have been asked to imagine this fall for the Waterfield Road parking lot adjacent to Town Common. The town hired the design firms to suggest possibilities about how the town-owned lot could better fit in with the rest of the town and add vitalize the area between downtown and Church Street.

The firms will present their designs to the Winchester Planning Board on Sept. 13.

Its a very interesting opportunity because not many towns are clear in wanting to have visions for their towns, said Peter Nobile, of LDa Architects. They might do some internal planning, but they rarely ask outside designers. This tends to happen in big cities.

For example, Nobile cited Cornell Universitys soliciting proposals from international design firms for the redesign of Roosevelt Island, in New York City.

Whats interesting [about the towns process] is that youll get several really interesting and compelling possibilities, Nobile said.

MBTA plans

The plan to invite outside designers came about, in part, because of the MBTAs $15 million plans to renovate Winchester Station over the next five years, Town Planner Betsy Ware said.

Go here to read the rest:
Architects asked to imagine redesigns to Winchester's Waterfield commuter rail lot