Benton Harbor, Michigan
Downtown
Spring 2008
View project images.
[1.5 Mb pdf]
(This studio project and its publication are supported by Champion Enterprises, Inc.’s gift to the Center for Building Communities.)
Benton Harbor is a small (population 11,000) majority-black Michigan town with a median income below the state average. Its prosperous history is still visible in wide downtown streets and remaining urban-scale buildings. Its location is desirable, and arts-related renovations and enterprises, including the foundry of renowned sculptor Richard Hunt, have made a mark on downtown. But the good buildings there are scattered — “like a kid that lost a lot of his teeth” — and shopping is scarce. The streets cater to speed, not pedestrians.
The Whirlpool Corporation maintains its headquarters in Benton Harbor and gives substantial support to the nonprofit Cornerstone Alliance, which asked the Center for Building Communities for ideas that will help diversify Benton Harbor without gentrifying it. Twelve Notre Dame students participated in this studio, directed by Ron Sakal and Sallie Hood, in collaboration with Visiting Associate Professional Specialist Paula Bodnar and her graphic design students in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design.
Graphic design students proposed a new and more unified way for Benton Harbor’s arts district to present itself. This new identity would involve a color palette drawn from existing buildings; the Trade Gothic typeface; a new name, “The Quarter”; and a capital “Q” as a signature logo.
Architecture students proposed a series of public green spaces downtown connected by pedestrian-friendly and tree-lined streets and boulevards, including Main and Pipestone. Streets would be redesigned in four different ways based on their curb-to-curb width.
Using modular building systems, students designed a variety of building types with both wood and steel frames, grouped into four residential projects for all income levels and three large public projects: an administration building for the YWCA of Berrien County; a small Magnet Arts High School; and a double-wing 13-story hotel at the entrance from St. Joseph, with a landmark central circular tower, retail and office space, and a destination water park.
Benton Harbor’s reputation and reality won’t turn around overnight, but they can turn around — provided that a well-thought-out plan provides pleasant and beautiful public facilities and makes them available to all, whether they travel by car, bus, bicycle, or foot.
