Solar arrays, "green" roofs and storm-water management that doubles as civic art and takes place only when it's raining are among the ideas for improving the environment in the redevelopment of downtown Columbia, a consultant told residents this week.
Town Center could be a "city within a garden," said Keith Bowers, a landscape architect on General Growth Properties' design team -- a vibrant place that makes use of renewable energy and is built with local materials so that little energy is expended to bring supplies here. Bowers' ecological restoration design, planning and assessment business is leading the sustainability and environmental component of GGP's efforts to re-create downtown.
"We wanted to take the legacy of what Jim Rouse wanted for Columbia and move it forward," Bowers told an audience of about 100 who came to GGP headquarters Tuesday night to learn more about the developer's plan for the future. "When GGP leaves and we all leave, this whole sustainability project will be engrained in Columbia and a part of everyday life."
Downtown streets could be lined with bikes hitched to bike racks by riders who had set off on foot to explore, where pocket wetland areas dot the landscape and where trees create a rich canopy over the city below. Lighting could be turned down so it doesn't contaminate the beauty of the night sky, Bowers said.
Tuesday's meeting was the first of three this week that laid out specific elements of the master plan that GGP unveiled April 28. Forums on Wednesday and yesterday covered the topics of transit, traffic and culture.
The master plan calls for a first phase that includes a skating rink that converts to an open-air market in summer near the food court entrance of The Mall in Columbia, 300,000 square feet of new retail space, 200,000 square feet of office space and a new hotel.
Other proposed improvements call for a makeover of Merriweather Post Pavilion to give it a new roof, stage, back-of-house facilities and concession stands. Additional attractions could be added nearby to make it more of a cultural destination.
Downtown redevelopment -- which would span three decades -- would include, in the near term, new pedestrian walkways connecting the mall to the lakefront and to Merriweather. It is the first major renovation of the planned community since it was built 40 years ago.
"I'm greatly impressed that GGP is putting this kind of thought and these kinds of resources into this," said Jay Bonstingl of Wilde Lake.
