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| Community Support |
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In today's economic climate, building community support for a project is especially important. The community needs to have confidence that the school will be a resource and that the project will remain on schedule and within the targeted budget. One of the hallmarks of DRA projects is our ability to reach out to the community. Whether it is gathering input, educating groups on the project or building support, we rely on our innovative ideas to publicize events and reach out to every attendee. Through diverse avenues - public forums, hearings and presentations at Town Meetings, explanation mailers, renderings and models, press releases, appearances on local cable, and informational meetings with special interest groups, DRA has helps cities, towns and districts achieve the support needed to move forward with a project. With each client we sit down and analyze which groups we need to reach and develop a specific strategy for that town or district.
When we discuss building community support, one of our favorite examples is our work on Bedford's Davis Elementary School. For that project we offered public workshops on 'site planning', 'building design', 'elements to provide a user-friendly school atmosphere', and a student workshop. These workshops were publicized with flyers and a panel-discussion video in a 'talk show' format broadcast on local cable. There was substantial participation by all groups. The votes passed and the input enhanced the final design.
Both the principal and superintendent have been generous in their praise of the community support process and the final design. They both said on various occasions that they appreciated DRA's commitment to listening to the client's needs and then delivering a school which addressed not only program and budget needs, but the client's most demanding expectations as well.
Davis Elementary School received First Prize in the first annual BuildSmart School Design Contest conducted by the Council of Educational Facility Planners International (CEFPI). Also named "Outstanding Building" from American School & University and published in the Spring 2000 issue of Visual Architecture. In 2003 the school was featured in the book Educational Environments published by Visual Reference Publications. |
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| ©2006 Drummey Rosane Anderson, Inc.
All Rights Reserved. |
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