About a month ago, the team at IQC went through the applications for our projects that we are tackling this year. We received 13 wonderful applications and decided we were able to assist most of the towns. One of ones that stood out the most, and that the team was most excited about, was from the town of Comanche, Oklahoma, a small town of about 1700 people in southwest Oklahoma. Their story was heartbreaking. The town ridden with poverty had no library in the schools, no area for the youth to gather, no cafeteria in one of the schools. A majority of households had no access to internet, which is crucial in this day and age. The elderly community simply wanted to be able to use a computer and communicate with their family that is miles away. The students wanted books as well as internet access to do research for school projects and broaden their learning. All of the town agreed they wanted a space to display history important to their town of which they are very proud. Recently, a building in their town--the Woodrow Wilson building--was lost to a fire. On this site, the city planner asked us to design a library/museum/community center that would unite the community and act as a gathering spot for people of all ages. The team is extremely eager to complete this project and deliver the building of these peoples' dreams. Last week, we visited Comanche. We began with a luncheon where we ate and talked with the seniors of the community. They all expressed a longing for Comanche's history to be gathered in one space and available to the public. They were enthusiastic about the possibility of a computer space, both for their needs and their children and grandchildren's needs.
Afterwards, we drove a short way to the site of the demolished building. The foundation of it still remains with crumbled bricks and plant growth taking over the ruins. Surrounding the site is quite a bit of land that the city manager told us they plan on constructing a city hall, a police station, a fire station, and other civic buildings. We took a lot of pictures of the site and our time in Comanche. After returning, we called a meeting where we discussed our vision for the project. The team pulled up a lot of precedent photos that inspired some of our ideas. We want to retain the traditional feeling of the town while giving it a modern look. So far, the program consists of a library space, a museum space, a cafe, some collaboration spaces, a study space, and a computer lab. We also like the idea of adding a courtyard, so that occupants can enjoy some time in the outdoors. Additionally, we want to include a landscaping plan of the area between all of the proposed buildings. The entire team is very excited about the potential for this project and the final design.
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Amy HostetterCurrent student. Archives
January 2019
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