was by far , the most active public open space for sitting and people-watching in all of Northampton . The Park had a little bit of everything for everyone , and how to capture and bring this forward for the next fifty years of life in this Park became a primary goal for the project .
Adding Back in the Riverscape
SSA also became fascinated with the site ’ s forgotten history . For two centuries , the Park landscape — and the entire pattern of settlement downtown — was shaped by the northern banks of the Mill River , an identity that had since been lost and overlooked by the 1970s renovations . Reinterpreting the presence of the river landscape within the Park ’ s plant ecology and materials became an important theme to us and , also , other community members , especially the Mill River Greenway Initiative , the City ’ s stewards of the Mill River Watershed .
Including New Water Management Thinking
Reinterpreting the presence of the river landscape within the Park ’ s plant ecology and materials became an important theme to us and , also , to other community members .
The third and final component of SSA ’ s redesign was how to make Northampton ’ s social and environmental ethic visible through the landscape . Early on , we had become interested in using Northampton as a testing ground for innovative stormwater management . We had proposed a curb break that diverted street runoff from Main Street into the Park , and cleansed and infiltrated it in a 12 x 150 foot long bioswale that ran the full length of the Park landscape . The City Engineer and the Mayor supported this bold move by securing
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