College Park residents, UM students reimagine Route 1

Bill Ryan/The Gazette

Dean Bonnie Thornton Dill addresses the Think-A-Thon, an Oct. 11 brainstorming event for a more vibrant and walkable Route 1, sponsored by the Center for Synergy at UMDs College of Arts and Humaninties, at the College Park Community Center.

College Park residents and students at the citys University of Maryland gathered Saturday to brainstorm a more pedestrian-friendly U.S. Route 1 with music-filled gazebos, tree lined-sidewalks and a grocery store.

The Think-A-Thon meeting at the College Park Community Center yielded outlines, sketches, lists and a lot of notes as about 60 people among them university staff and elected officials sat down to find creative solutions to the challenges of Route 1.

In their discussions, attendees tried to address challenges such as too much traffic and a lack of independently-owned businesses, and tried to reimagine Route 1 as a space with more aesthetically-pleasing architecture, spaces for people to linger, art and music.

The event, organized by the Center for Synergy at the universitys college of Arts & Humanities, is modeled on previous Think-A-Thons held in Baltimore.

The core idea is how to use the strategies and theories of the arts and humanities to address cultural and social problems, said Sheri Parks, director of the Center for Synergy. When you talk about arts and culture, its a very easy way to enter dangerous spaces.

Parks said organizers framed the discussion early on by asking attendees to consider the roles of arts and culture in the redesign of Route 1. Once the different stakeholders began the discussion, she said they brought up other issues crime, family life, business development and food but the conversation focused on solutions rather than problems.

Route 1 needs to focus more on pedestrians...the streetscape. Trees would be nice, said Liesl Koch of College Park. Maybe if we started calling Route 1 Baltimore Avenue maybe it would create a momentum of its own.

Koch said the reason for her suggestion is the word avenue implies a more walkable space rather than a cut-through for motorists.

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College Park residents, UM students reimagine Route 1