Connecting Community

RI - CT

This project is a conceptual proposal for a Gateway marking the border between Rhode Island and Connecticut. The brainchild of the Ocean Community Chamber of Commerce, the project is meant to celebrate the close connection between our two states. Indeed, the border is porous and nearly invisible with residents passing from one side of the Pawcatuck River to the other without a thought to the threshold they are crossing.

The inspiration for the proposal came from the seal of the Town of Westerly. Many local area residents are familiar with the three-fish motif in the center of the seal, but don’t notice what is behind them – a fishing net, a web and an apt metaphor for the close network of our communities. Our economies have been inextricably linked for centuries. We have a shared maritime history in living by the sea and making our living from the sea. Both Connecticut and Rhode Island also share a rich heritage in the textile industry, locally represented by the Moore Company in Westerly and the former Wimpfheimer Velvet Mill in Stonington. There, too, the web of fabric connects our communities.

The architectural expression of this idea is a web of stainless steel that arcs over the bridge between the states. Materials are chosen from each state - Westerly granite for the piers that ground the Gateway and carbon fiber structural arches often used in sailboat masts manufactured in Ledyard, Connecticut. At the actual state line which occurs at an angle to the bridge a light cowl marks the border and illuminates that threshold. The intention is to create a gossamer and uplifting Gateway to frame your view as you pass seamlessly from Rhode Island to Connecticut and back again.