Success StoryHyden Revitalization Through Placemaking Being Realized



Hyden Revitalization Through Placemaking Being Realized

Author: Jayoung Koo

Planning Unit: Landscape Architecture

Major Program: Community Design/Creative Placemaking

Outcome: Intermediate Outcome

In Fall 2019, the University of Kentucky, Department of Landscape Architecture (UKLA) students enrolled in LA 324 Landscape Architecture Design Studio IV: Community Engagement and Design, partnered with members from the Leslie County Community Foundation, Chamber of Commerce, and Trail Committee, among others who envision revitalizing Hyden, particularly the downtown public spaces, to be the heart of their community. The community group was a partner in the Promise Zone Downtown Revitalization program which was awarded an Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC)’s Partnerships for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) initiative grant (2017-2019) to address economic development needs in distressed communities in the Appalachian Region of southeast Kentucky. In addition to the initial short-term outcome from the service-learning project in spring-summer 2020, the community utilized their mini-grant from the Promise Zone Downtown Revitalization program to commission and place a public art sculpture in town in summer 2021 which LA 324 students initially proposed. 






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