Fun and Creative Placemaking Concepts for Sandusky
Building on the Cities unique history and geography, Designing Local collaborated withCity of Sandusky leadersand stakeholders to create a series of fun, imaginative, and engaging placemaking concepts. The goal was to celebrate local history and culture, but also to attract tourists to spend time in the City and to enhance potential for economic development.
Located at the mouth of a well-protected bay on Lake Erie, Sandusky has been a hub of trade and commerce dating back to 18th century. This provided a foundation for the industrial development of the City, creating significant local employment in commercial fishing, quarrying, and the production of consumer goods such as crayons and wooden wheels. Its key location and unique geography also led to the City becoming a popular destination for vacationers and led to the founding of the ‘Cedar Point’ beach resort in the 1870’s.
Although employment in the industrial sectors declined in the 20th Century, Cedar Point dramatically grew into one of the top theme parks in the world. The park has currently has over 5,000 employees, attracts over 3.5 million visitors annually, and is commonly referred to as the “the roller coaster capital of the world”.
Once home to the American Crayon Company, Sandusky was a major manufacturer of crayons, pencils, and other drawing tools. While most of the original buildings are gone, the public still embraces this narrative as a point of historical pride. This concept builds on history to create an interactive focal point. Crayon-shaped cylindrical tubes will change color throughout the day and evening. Water jets will be synchronized to suggest the appearance of lines being drawn across the pavement.
The ‘Lake Erie Monster’ is Great Lakes folklore with origins in Sandusky. There have been multiple reported sightings of this serpent-like creature along the Lake Erie coastline. A sculpture of Lemmy will be utilized as a focal point for an interactive children’s park. Multiple historical, environmental, and cultural themes will be incorporated into the design of the park, creating an opportunity to educate children about Lake Erie.
This concept for an overhead banner display builds upon the City’s relationship to Lake Erie. With a nearby state fish hatchery and significant cultural focus on boating, water-based recreation is a key part of Sandusky’s quality of life, local economy, and tourism industry. The concept creates a cluster of fish-shaped fabric banners over Columbus Avenue. The banners will move slightly in the wind, creating the effect of a school of fish swimming toward Lake Erie. Items can be rotated on the structure quarterly with the season.
Three railroad underpasses serve as south gateways to the community. Currently, these underpasses are unremarkable and feel unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists. If improved, they will provide an opportunity to create noteworthy gateways and comfortable pedestrian passages, and to celebrate the City’s industrial heritage through placemaking. In order to create connectivity, the underpasses present an exciting opportunity for multimedia installation. Flat walls provide opportunities for murals or vegetation walls. The underpasses themselves provide exciting opportunities for light installations that could be a variety of colors or shades of one color.
In addition to site-specific placemaking concepts, the Designing Local team also proposed a land use strategy for the key eastern gateway to the City. The site is the first area of the City that visitors experience on their way to Cedar Point and currently has aging strip-mall style development. The strategy includes the implementation of zoning guidelines which will steer new development toward a more walkable and architecturally appealing corridor.