GAMMON HOUSE BREAKS GROUND ON GAMMON SQUARE!

GAMMON SQUARE

The Gammon House – in Springfield, Ohio – is a site on the Underground Railroad. It is a modest building, built in the mid 1800’s, which is set back from a primary street by about 100’. A group of passionate citizens have purchased the building and restored it as a house museum. Their vision is to make a public gathering place dedicated to contemplating the lessons learned from centuries of injustice and racism.

Unfortunately, what made the Gammon House a great place to hide escaping slaves also makes it difficult to present as a prominent piece of civic history and a current-day element of public pride.

Gammon Square is a conceptual urban design plan which seeks to elevate the presence and stature of the Gammon House, and associated spaces, placing it on a civic pedestal as a celebrated heritage site for the region.

Gammon Square includes the Gammon House museum as well as aspirational visions for the Gammon Event Center, two parks, and custom improvements to public street corridors. Each element of Gammon Square is steeped with symbolism.

The following video and still images created by CUDA Studio represent a collection of ideas which are intended to inspire the community, leading to a more definitive design for the spaces and a successful fundraising campaign.

Overall View of Gammon Square (Public and Private Improvements):

Center Street and Clark Street improvements May Include:

·         Street Narrowing and re-paving

·         New, wider collector / tree strips - with flowering ornamental street trees in front of Gammon Green to let people know from blocks away that something special is ahead

·         New, wide sidewalks

·         Bump outs at Center / Clark intersection for crosswalks

·         Bump outs at mid-block school / Gammon Square crossing (safe bus harbor)

·         Cobblestone intersection texture to highlight special place and slow traffic

·         Smooth, contrasting color crosswalks to celebrate pedestrians of all abilities

·         Lanterns at terminated vistas of Clark Street (offset intersection). Lanterns were used by conductors on the Underground Railroad for lighting the way to safe houses.

Piqua Place improvements might include:

·         Street reconstruction (new curbs, sidewalks, and pavement)

·         Speed table across street in front of the Gammon House - designed as a continuation of the “Quilt Plaza”

Gammon Green:

Gammon Green May Include:

“Quilt” Plaza

o   Brick paver plaza designed in a “quilt” pattern. It is widely believed that quilts were placed over window sills (and at other prominent locations) by owners of sites along the Underground Railroad to give coded information to escaping slaves and those who helped them.

o   Hardscaped area durable surface for the “landing” zone of large tour groups

o   Information kiosks / signage to educate and inspire at all hours of the day, week, and year - even when the Gammon House isn’t open for tours

o   Extended across Piqua Placed and built as a “speed table” so cars & trucks have to slow down

Journey Pathway

o   Symbolizes the unclear, winding, sometimes harrowing path that slaves had to travel to achieve their freedom

§  Earth pinch – symbolizes the uncomfortable tension and threatening pressure of the travel

§  Winding, wondering around the amphitheater and commemoration wall

§  River crossing symbolizes the Ohio River threshold to freedom

§  Stepping stones symbolize the care with which slaves had to travel, balancing the need to travel quickly while hiding vs. the need to emerge and find safe places.

§  The labyrinth of monoliths symbolizes the bewildering, disorienting, often scary moments along the path to freedom (monoliths can have names inscribed)

Commemoration wall

o   Curved wall can have the names of slaves who traveled on the Underground Railroad and perhaps those who helped them, as well as known stops along the Railroad.

o   The curve signifies continuity of remembrance and will embrace the amphitheater stage

Amphitheater

o   Inspirational speeches and performances on the amphitheater stage will take place surrounded by the memories of slaves and those who helped them gain their freedom

o   The amphitheater stage will appear to be suspended on the water of the Contemplation Pond symbolizing the lofty, divine effort of the Underground Railroad as well as the peaceful nature and fulfillment of remembrance – like a lily leaf floating in a lake.

Water Features

o   The fountain symbolizes birth and the origins of new life

o   The River symbolizes the threshold to freedom that the Ohio River represented as well as the role creeks played (for both drinking water and navigation) in the woodland journeys of escaping slaves

o   The Contemplation Pond represents the peace and fulfillment attained when remembering the lessons of slavery, the Underground Railroad, racism, and the quest for justice

Gammon House and Gammon Event Center

Gammon House

Already restored house museum open for tours

Hosts a permanent exhibit showcasing the Gammon family as well as key elements of Southwest Ohio’s legacy and contributions to the Underground Railroad

Gammon Event Center

A small retreat and event center to compliment the mission of the Gammon House as a place for the study and contemplation of peace and justice.

Robert C. Henry Park:

Robert C. Henry Park

Robert C. Henry was the first African American to become mayor of a city in the State of Ohio and the United States of America. The corner park named in his honor opposite Gammon Green will cement this site as a point of prominence in the history of African Americans in Southwest Ohio and the Unites States.

o   Small hardscaped gathering space for individuals to connect to each other

o   Shape of plaza is round to eliminate any sense of superiority or hierarchy

o   Obelisks sliced with curved steel symbolize the unravelling of traditional, authoritative, and dictatorial hierarchies for a newer, more equal and just society.