RCDL Grant Presentation and Final Report

The Town of Charlestown applied for a grant through the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management’s Urban and Community Forestry Program in April 2025. The RIDEM-DFE Urban & Community Forestry program partnered with the URI Department of Landscape Architecture’s Regenerative Community Design Lab (RCDL) to offer free conceptual design services to three communities in Rhode Island to protect and enhance natural resources. The grant utilized the skills of the students enrolled at the University’s Landscape Architecture program to research and implement the design work.  In its RCDL grant application, the Town sought from the students a conceptual design for the Charlestown Town Hall & Puchalski Field property located at 4540 South County Trail. The Town’s grant application was selected in early May 2025 and the project was completed by the students in the following weeks.

 

Several issues were identified as priorities for the students to include within their design, like exploring potential relocation of WWII memorial away from South County Trial to a location more accessible to pedestrian traffic from the parking lot now located behind Town Hall and improving erosion control around the parking lot. Puchalski Field is also the site of home games of the Chariho Cowboys’ youth football and cheerleading teams. Representatives for the team provided feedback addressing their needs, which include parking, access to the field from the Town Hall parking lot, and identifying ways to improve playing field conditions.

 

URI students made multiple visits to the site, met with town staff and other stakeholders to solicit input, gathered information, and worked in teams to create two initial concepts. A final design was then created by students, concluding the project with a presentation of the final concept plan before the Charlestown Town Council on June 23, 2025.

 

Following the students’ presentation to the Town Council, the RCDL provided their final report to the Town, which can be accessed here.