"A New Hinesville" Model Building Contest
Liberty County School System

During the Liberty County Board of Education Meeting held Tuesday, May 12, 2009, Liberty County High School's students were recognized for their participation in the Brownfields Cleanup Grant Education Outreach Program. Thirteen students in Ms. Brenda Harris' honors chemistry class competed as teams in the model building contest, "A New Hinesville."

The students were charged with developing a vision for their community using smart growth principles and personal experience. The teams used tangible and electronic models to display their designs for the Memorial Drive Corridor. The City of Hinesville Community Development Department promoted the contest to facilitate community involvement in the City's redevelopment efforts.

School Board Chairman Lily Baker and Vice Chairman Marcia Anderson were on hand to present certificates to the participating students. Assistant City Manager Kenneth Howard presented the monetary awards. The winning team members were David Hoang, Samantha Gonzales, Ryan Althouse, and Karen Donaldson. The group chose to depict their concept using a tangible model. The model was titled "The Ville" and included a roof top swimming pool and a skate park. As a reward for their efforts, each member of the winning team was awarded a $100 gift card. Other participants included Khameron Mitchem, Sharaina McNeal, Julian McRoy, Byron Johnson, Diana Jimenez, Heather Marshall, Cody Heard, Laurent DeBrossard, and Kayla Rand. Each student received a $25 gift card for participating.

The City of Hinesville presented the Liberty County High School Science Department with a Goggle Sterilization Safety Cabinet for facilitating student involvement and contributing to the future development of Hinesville.

Contest Pictures

(click to enlarge)


Click here for Coastal Courier Article 

Historical Information Regarding
the Model Building Contest is Below:

Participants

Small student groups at Liberty County High School. Students may participate as individuals or in student groups. Students groups may not exceed five (5) individual students.

Contest

The object of the competition is to design a vision for "A New Hinesville" starting with the Memorial Drive Corridor.


(Click to enlarge)

Why Memorial Drive?

The Memorial Drive Corridor is one of the most underused areas of the City of Hinesville. Memorial Drive has been impacted by changes to the area's transportation infrastructure and resulting relocation of retail and residential land uses.  Memorial Drive Corridor will move toward higher densities and more efficient land utilization.  There will be an emphasis on family values and the inextricable link to Fort Stewart1.

Smart Growth principles have been developed in Liberty Country to rescue neighborhoods and create walkable, accessible and successful Downtown "city centers' and neighborhoods. Smart Growth means: efficient land use, flexible and innovative transportation systems, full utilization of infrastructure and community services, mixing residential, commercial and service businesses to create environments that are designed at the scale and for the comfort of people. The principles are outlined as follows:

 Connecting continuous street pattern


 

Pedestrian and bicycle access to circulation systems within
neighborhoods and outlying districts

Adequate infrastructure to support new development


 

Narrowing traffic lanes to accommodate wider sidewalks, street trees, buffers and other streetscape amenities

Less off-street parking, and more on-street parking


 

Mixing commercial and residential uses in a common
environment


 

Promotion of neighborhood commercial to support walkable
neighborhoods


 

Buildings oriented to the street, with parking moved to the rear of the facility


 

Use of alleys and service zones to move trucks and other conveyance systems off city streets

Compatibility and transition between uses

Variety of housing types


 

Flexible development standards and incentives for infill and
redevelopment

Rules:

Students may create their model using the media of their choice, such as:

 3D hand sketch

3D modeling software, e.g. Google SketchUp, etc.


 

Scale Model - tangible (physical) representation using various materials, such as cardboard, wooden blocks, foam, etc.

 

 

 

Students should use creativity and originality to create a 3D model that represents the contest theme. The model must be created specifically for the contest; however, students may use existing components or standard shapes from a library, modeling kit or 3D warehouse.

Requirements

For sketch and software models entries should submit at least two - 8-1/2"x11" perspective views of their model (e.g. bird's-eye views or Worm's - eye views) in color or black and white.  Entries should be mounted on poster board or foam core board.  Tri-fold poster boards are also acceptable.

For tangible models entries should submit a model using a 1:240 scale (1" = 240'). 

The model should be accompanied by a briefing document consisting of at least three (3) paragraphs.  The briefing document should summarize the model content (design, scale and material choices).  The document should also describe the community benefit why the group selected the model elements.  It can also be mounted on your poster.

Schedule

The contest runs from Monday, March 16, 2009 through Friday, April 24, 2009. 

Tools

 Master Plan Excerpt

Memorial Drive Corridor Map

Presentation (Powerpoint)  ;Presentation (PDF Format)

Contest Rubric