Broadway District Streetscape Wins Design Award

A streetscape project funded jointly by Yale and the city of New Haven that transformed the Broadway District into a lively downtown commercial center recently garnered the 1999 Design Award for Architecture in the Community from a national architectural organization.

The Connecticut chapter of the American Institute of Architecture also named Herbert S. Newman and Partners, the project’s designers, along with several others, for their part in completing a plan that brought major improvements to the Broadway shopping district. Newman is also on the faculty of Yale School of Architecture.

Newman said the street is the most important space in cities, and that his firm’s design attempted to restore “meaningful aspects from the past to bring back the District’s sense of place, yet equip its infrastructure for the future.” He added that to give the streetscape pedestrian scale, the design included underground utilities, widened sidewalks, a narrowed roadway with curbside parking, new kiosks, new bus shelters, street furniture, lighting and newly-planted elm trees.

“We enlarged the existing Soldier’s Monument Park and created a new Tmarket island’ to encourage street market activity,” added Newman. “Re-established as a significant space within the fabric of the city, the District is thriving at the confluence of urban and campus life.”

Also named in the award were the city of New Haven, owner; Yale, Connecticut Department of Transportation and the city, funding; Barakos-Landino Design Group, civil engineer; Michael Horton and Associates, structural engineer; Melchiori and Associates, electrical engineer; McQuire Group Connecticut Inc., resident engineer; Allan Davis Associates, traffic engineer; Bruce J. Spiewak, code consultant; Rolland/Towers, landscape architect; Rumney Associates, graphic designer; and L.G. DeFelice, general contractor.