The Town of Sykesville has started implementing an award-winning plan to boost charm, accessibility, public uses and commercial activity in its downtown.
This fall, the Maryland Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA MD) named the Sykesville Downtown Improvement Project as the winner of its 2024 Neighborhood Revitalization Award.
Images courtesy of KCI Technologies.
Sykesville had previously received recognition for its downtown enhancement efforts, including being named the “Coolest Small Town in America” and “Best Main Street in America.” Sykesville is part of the Main Street Maryland program, which works to strengthen the economic potential of traditional downtowns and neighborhoods.
As part of a recent update to the town’s Comprehensive Plan, Sykesville teamed up with KCI Technologies to design several projects that could further strengthen and preserve the downtown’s character and history, and also reinvest in the Main Street business district.
“The focus of the updated Comp Plan was to reinvest in an already thriving downtown area by identifying areas for retail and commercial expansion, improving walkability and ADA accessibility, and creating additional outdoor gathering space,” said Joe Cosentini, Town Manager.
The design team created a plan to achieve those goals by enhancing streetscapes, adding parking, supporting better traffic circulation, making the area more pedestrian friendly, and creating new outdoor gathering spaces for everyday use and major events.
“Event days are very important to the town,” said Rick Hoehn, Practice Leader – Planning and Landscape Architecture at KCI.
In addition to regular farmers’ markets, the downtown hosts an annual Art and Wine Festival, a Craft Beer Festival, Trick or Treating on Main, and other events.
To support events and create public green space, KCI created an ambitious design for the Townhouse Lawn on property adjacent to Main Street and the town hall.
The property, which has a steep slope and varying topography, “right now has a large retaining wall that holds up the hill along the sidewalk,” Hoehn said. “The town wanted that space to be more opened up and to not be disconnected from the sidewalk.”
Images courtesy of KCI Technologies.
Using 3D modeling and digital design tools, KCI worked through several design options with town officials before settling on a plan to break up the 40-foot slope with terraced landscaping that creates amphitheater-style seating, an ADA-compliant pathway through the site, and steps leading directly from the sidewalk to the lawn. The design, Hoehn said, avoids breaking up the space with any guardrails and creates access to another park beyond the site.
The downtown plan also alters traffic and pedestrian pathways “and we put retractable bollards in the roadway that connects to Main Street so that on event days, you can raise the bollards, close that area to traffic and turn it into a pedestrian thoroughfare,” Hoehn said.
Town officials were so pleased with the overall design that they directed KCI to create a plan for phased construction and have already gone out to bid on phase one.
“For the town, this is a real game changer,” Hoehn said. “These are pretty significant changes to the downtown.”
“The South End Streetscape will create a pedestrian environment to help facilitate small community events sponsored by area merchants…and offer space for these community events to grow,” Cosentini said. “Pedestrian safety is greatly improved by narrowing roadways, defining parking areas, and widening sidewalks.”
In addition to improving quality of life in downtown, addressing environmental concerns and enhancing its historic character, the projects should also deliver economic benefits, Cosentini said. “These projects will significantly improve Sykesville’s downtown environment, allowing for continued growth and recognition of our small business community.”