Market Square:
December 2019 - May 2020

By Main Street Highland Park & The Borough of Highland Park

Project Managers: Rebecca Hersh and myself

Contributors: James Nichols (AIA), Jenni Chapman, and the Borough of Highland Park Administration & Council

Painted asphalt designed by John Webster and painted by the Main Street Design Committee

Pavilion purchased from Lancaster County Backyard

This started as a long-held aspiration to convert a centrally located parking lot into a public square. The parking lot already functioned as a canvas that hosted many cultural events like our Farmers Market and Outdoor Movie Nights. Whatever change we came up with would have to act as a picture frame for that canvas to signal, “This space has significant value to our community.”

A perfect storm of a DCA grant being available, enthusiastic Borough leadership, and a Main Street team hungry for downtown improvement made this project happen.

My role was to:

• Acquire quotes and timelines from various pavilion manufacturers.

• Collaborate/illustrate/document the design intents of Main Street’s volunteer subcommittee, which made the bulk of the grant proposal.

• Acting as the medium between the Borough, the subcommittee, manufacturers, and tradespeople and conveying the real-world implications of placement and construction.

• Organize a volunteer-led design process to paint the asphalt under the planned pavilion.

• Coordinate improvements with the Borough such as the bike station, electric outlets, and asphalt placement.