Shaping the future through community engagement

ST. MARTIN PARISH — The St. Martinville Plan is an initiative aimed at improving everything from historic Main Street to local neighborhoods in St. Martinville, Louisiana.

Graduate students, fourth-year architecture students and faculty at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL) actively seek input from residents to shape the future of the community.

Cameron Mouton, a fourth-year architecture student who participated in the Vision Plan project, emphasizes the importance of community feedback to the project: “As architects, we really just want to build community, get feedback from everyday people to see what they need in life, and also improve your life,” he said.

This collaborative effort is part of a long-standing initiative that links UL’s Public Design Workshop with LA Louisiane Consulting.

The Community Workshops, which have been in operation for almost three decades, provide a platform for the School of Architecture to engage with local residents.

Tom Sammons, professor of architecture at UL and director of the Community Zone workshop, emphasized the purpose of the workshop: “We’ll get their feedback on the different projects we’re working on.”

Current projects under consideration include building sidewalks and improving access to healthy food.

Chasity Alfred, another fourth-year architecture student, prioritizes the local community’s need for fresh food. “We’ve been focusing on bringing fresh produce to neighborhoods, given that there will be new developments in the area,” she explained. “Looking around the area, there aren’t many manufacturing options.”

Sammons further emphasized the importance of community feedback in determining the direction of the workshop. “We sort of synthesize those comments, add them back into the design, and continually tweak our design as we move forward,” he says.

The success of the St. Martinville Development Plan Preview depends on community participation. Sammons explains, “They are a special ingredient in a recipe that has a lasting impact on their community.”

The public is invited to attend the Vision Plan preview event at the Sterling Alexander Building in Adam Carlson Park on Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. This meeting gives residents the opportunity to participate in the planning process and contribute to the overall vision for the future of St. Martinville.