This senior thesis focuses on Roberts Stadium, a closed entertainment center located 3 miles east of Evansville’s central business district. The city itself is sprawling, leading to disconnected neighborhoods and a framework which doesn’t support pedestrians. Coupled with this, Evansville, IN became America’s most obese city in 2010. Across the United States, 30,000 people die each year from obesity related diseases (~1/4 of Evansville’s population), which frames the backdrop for this project.
The decision was made to create a neighborhood which promotes active lifestyles and expresses connectivity to its past, nature, and its surroundings. The façade of Roberts stadium is preserved, turning the former stadium into a commercial center with an interior courtyard. The adjacent Army Reserve training center is repurposed into a community center for local residents to enjoy. A network of trails also connects residents within the community and to adjacent neighborhoods. Greater density allows for larger open spaces, and an ecological corridor naturally filters storm water runoff.
