S T U D I O T

National Arts Park

The Carenage Revitalization Project | Summer Internship 2016 DHM Design

A once vibrant and cherished gateway into Grenadian culture, the Carenage is a space that now faces economic decline, social vacancy, and coastal threats. 

The cargo port on the east edge of the Carenage offers a unique opportunity to create an urban recreation and cultural landscape that could act as a cultural beacon for St. George’s. A civic destination as opposed to a private tourist enterprise such as a hotel or casino - an option that is currently being considered by the nation - the people of Grenada demonstrate their cultural pride and make St. George’s a more recognizable destination on a global stage. In the long run, this will be a more powerful and sustainable economic driver for the country than a single private use in this location.

The National Arts Park at St. George’s Quay is a civic park that serves as a public recreation space for St. George’s as well as the setting for new arts and cultural spaces. It links the Carenage with Port Louis to the west, and helps to establish ecological resilience to the area. 

Location

The Carenage is located in the capital city of the island nation Grenada, St. Georges.  As the southern most island of the West Indies, Grenada serves as a critical destination for many sailers and cruise ships along travels throughout the Caribbean.  Unlike other Caribbean nations such as Jamaica, Haiti, and the Virgin Islands, Grenada preserves its local and cultural heritage minimally impacted by large scale tourism development.  Its unique character has been reflected for decades through the Carenage, its historic downtown center right on the harbor.  Once a place for boat maintenance (Carenage derives from the french phrase “to careen” or turn a boat on its side for cleaning) the Carenage of St. George’s is the heart of Grenada.

Threat of Rising Seas and Storm Surge

As climate change continues to shift global coastal conditions, island nations like Grenada find themselves in the middle of rising sea level and increased storm surge due to extreme weather concerns.  Global mean sea level rise will continue during the 21st century, very likely at an increasingly faster rate. The change in sea level is an evolving prediction and scientists consider more than one climate change model. However, even conservative models predict that by 2050, just about thirty years from now, a sea level rise of between .15m and .25m. For this proposal, we focused on the mid-term of 30 years, and proposed improvements to The Carenage that aim to mitigate a sea level rise of up to .25m.

The Carenage Revitalization Project

The National Arts Park at St. George’s Quay is a part of the larger Carenage Revitalization Project that envisions a series of practical, implementable improvements. The aim is to restore this unique historic district, so that it is more accessible and hospitable to locals and tourists, and more resilient in the face of increasing environmental threats of storm surges and rising sea levels. This project is inspired by The Carenage’s distinct sense-of-place, its scale, architecture and history with interventions that honor the character and culture of St. George’s prominent location at the entry to the country’s capital. 

This project emerged as part of a collaborative summer internship project with DHM Design. We worked across offices to develop an overall revitalization plan for the Carenage that acknowledges existing conditions in order to identify and prioritize needs and design opportunities. Five distinct areas, including the waterfront edge itself, emerged as focus areas. Individually, we each highlighted a unique condition along the waterfront that would benefit from specific improvements, and collectively, we presented a holistic vision for how the Carenage would benefit from a series of design interventions. 

The National Art’s park sits at the forefront of this plan, as it is by far the most ambitious and transformational component of the overall Carenage revitalization. Currently, Grenada’s existing container port, The Grenada Port Authority, occupies too prominent a location within the harbour. This project presumes that this port can be relocated to Grenville, a town more central to the island or elsewhere in favour, in favour of a civic use that will be a cultural introduction to the City of St. George’s. 

Phased Implementation

Due to the great scale of this project, it is implementable in three distinct phases. In the first phase, the Wharf Road Promenade is extended into the Grenada Port Authority terminating in curvilinear boardwalks that accommodate boat docking including dinghy boats from larger boats anchored at sea. Also included is a water taxi dock and the conversion of an existing small structure into a cafe with outdoor seating that highlights and support local food producers, exposing tourists to authentic local dishes. The National Arts Park will become a central node in the wider public transport network. The Carenage Revitalization Project introduces the idea of a regional water taxi service, which will provide a fun and efficient hop-on/hop-off transportation experience for tourists and locals. The water taxi will connect visitors, via the St. George’s Cabriolet, to the Cruise Terminal, Fort George, The National Arts Park, Port Louis, Grande Anse Beach, St. George’s University, and points beyond. 

In the second phase, a large parking lot will provide spots for 240 vehicles allowing for the removal of all street parking along Wharf Road, and thus the extension of a boardwalk adjacent to the water’s edge. Additionally, an outdoor amphitheater will serve as a venue for public events, such as a movie or sports screening, cultural dances, music concerts or a community theatre performance. In support of Grenada’s arts and cultural heritage, the venue will be open to all community groups that want to share their artistic aspirations with the general public. The stage pavilion sits at the water’s edge serving both park visitors and boats who have access to performance on the water. 

The final phase, in part to be funded from event proceeds, will include a National Art and Culture Museum which will be added to the park. In addition, the park will help shelter inland from storm surge by restoring the parks edges with mangrove habitat as part of the national botanic garden. This botanic garden provides a well-kept platform for locals to share their ecology with visitors while supporting native wildlife. At full build-out, the park will extend the full length of the existing quay and connect the Carenage to the Grenada Yacht Club and the Lagoon.