Placemaking: Embedding Culture into the Built Environment

In early 2021, through a partnership with AARP St. Louis, Citizens for Modern Transit, and the St. Clair County Transit District, Catherine Hamacher and Jacque Knight led a planning process to understand, design, and implement placemaking improvements to the Emerson Park Transit Station in East St. Louis, Illinois.  A historically black city, East St. Louis was the site of the 1917 race riots which resulted in the murder of many African American residents.  Since that time, the City has worked to invest in its residents, working to develop industry, connect to the St. Louis area economy just across the Mississippi River, and honor the area’s history of music excellence.  Musical greats including Miles Davis, Katherine Dunham, and Ike and Tina Turner began their careers in East St. Louis.  The Emerson Park Transit Transformation Project sought to honor this history by creating a community space that drew upon this strong legacy.  Over the course of 6 months, the project moved from brainstorming to design to implementation, engaging over 500 residents along the way.  Opening in the summer of 2021, the Emerson Park project represents an intentional effort to utilize placemaking as a way to both invest in a community and honor its rich cultural heritage in a permanent way.  Construction is underway now.