East St. Louis Action Research Project

East St. Louis Action Research Project University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign \| College of Fine and Applied Arts
About Us Why East St. Louis? Why University of Illinois? Mission Statement People Community Partners Campus Partners ESLARP Staff Campus Advisory Committee and Affiliated Faculty Graduate Assistants Alumni Get Involved Courses Current Courses FAA 291 Fall 09 Since 2000 1990 through 1999 What We Do Student Learning Community Information and Technology Neighborhoods and Planning Organizational Capacity Building Parks and Open Space Design Assistance and Construction Publications and Reports Academic Publications Student Projects and Reports Neighborhood Plans Conference Presentations Outreach Weekend Reports Retreats and Annual Reports Awards and News ESLARP in the News Awards and Recognitions Newsletters Resources and Links Maps Internal Resources Make a Gift to ESLARP Outreach Weekend Registration *SPOTLIGHT* Larine Y. Cowan Make a Difference Award The Larine Y. Cowan Make a Difference Award was presented to ESLARP Director Laura Lawson and FAA Dean Robert Graves earlier this month during the 24th Annual Celebration of Diversity breakfast on November 11, held at the I Hotel. Presenting the award to ESLARP was Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Robert Easter, and Menah Pratt-Clarke, Interim Assistant Chancellor and Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access. ESLARP in Action Blog Search	Enriching young minds through community engagement Farmer's Market Because there are so few retail enterprises in East St. Louis, residents must travel to the more affluent suburbs for many of their shopping needs. If more residents could buy their groceries in East St. Louis, it would feed the local economy. Members of the Winstanley/Industry Park Neighborhood Organization decided that a local, open-air farmers market would promote small businesses within the city. Technical assistance for the market site improvements was provided by ESLARP. This was an opportunity for true collaboration among students in the departments. They conducted separate studios with distinct objectives, but came together on a regular basis to resolve their differences and arrive at a common solution. Planning students collected information on successful farmers markets in other communities. Working with WIPNO, they prepared a plan for establishment of the market and conducted a vendor training workshop which in turn made the market a more attractive and professional enterprise. Architecture and Landscape Architecture students explored ways of adapting an abandoned commercial site for reuse as a market; the Architecture students designed and built affordable vendor stalls and repaired the marketplace's structures; the Landscape Architecture students prepared a site plan for vendor use and other activities, including seating and a performance stage. Illinois Cooperative Extension Service staff assisted with site assessment and contract supervision. The students and faculty met frequently to coordinate and revise their plans, before and after presentations to the sponsoring neighborhood organization. During a single semester, from January to May, the site went from a state of disrepair, through conceptual design, to opening and operation. Carol Perry President, Winstanley/Industry Park Neighborhood Organization [1.07 M] "...the most important thing..." Mike Andrejasich Professor, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign [1.27 M] "...the task of solving the problem..." Willie Beard East St. Louis Resident [0.54 M] "...education for the kids..." Hon. Gordon Bush Mayor of East St. Louis [0.51 M] "...a new spirit in East St. Louis..." Rep. Wyvetter Younge D-East St. Louis [0.51 M] "...insipiration and hope..." Last updated on 6/26/2009