Jeff Hanson Visits RewireNXT Student Atelier

Tuesday, July 1, Town of Redding Highway Superintendent Jeff Hanson visited John Read Middle and Redding Elementary School interns of the Re-wireNXT Student Atelier. Mr. Hanson was invited by Joel Barlow High School Re-wireNXT student principals to be an honored guest during the Atelier’s Transportation Week. Mr. Hanson spoke about road conditions in Redding, the costs of repairs and maintenance, and answered Atelier questions about what types of tasks Mr. Hanson and his crew complete on a day-to-day basis.  

 Focusing on local transportation infrastructure, Re-wireNXT Student Atelier identifies and seeks innovative solutions to the transportation challenges Wire Mill redevelopment presents.  With more than 400 new residences approved for development at the site, an increase in traffic volume of more than 800 cars is anticipated.  How will our local town and state roads, especially Rt. 7, manage?  Student Atelier research also demonstrates that, nationally, car ownership is declining.  People value walkability in the communities they choose to live in.  How do Georgetown, Redding, and neighboring towns attract and retain residents as revitalizing cities, walkable with vibrant social centers, become increasingly popular places to live and work? Our strategy?   Ask our community’s most fearlessly creative, thoughtfully educated constituents — Redding’s school children. 

 Each week of Re-WireNXT’s summer Student Atelier has a focus in which the middle and elementary school interns explore concepts related to the Gilbert & Bennett Wire Mill site. Cross-pollination of ideas is encouraged between each vertical:  Ecology, Architecture, Environmental Remediation/Green Energies, Food/Hospitality/Farming, and Fashion/Art. By inviting field professionals, like Mr. Hanson, we intend to foster the same social enrichments envisioned in the proposed Gilbert & Bennett restoration project. Each Friday at the end of the week, we welcome the community to our studio at the Gilbert & Bennett Cultural Center to view and discuss the vertical themed projects produced by Atelier interns and student principals.  Please join us next Friday, July 11, for “Go Wild,” our ecology week.

Re-WireNXT Student Atelier is funded by the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation, Redding Education Foundation, and Fairfield County Bank, and is sponsored by Artspire, a program of the New York Foundation for the Arts.  For more information, please contact us at rewireheadquarters@gmail.com.