BNIM was selected by DevelopSpringfield and the Springfield Redevelopment Authority to help lead the recovery planning of Springfield after a tornado ripped through the city in early June 2011. The EF-3 tornado caused a 6-mile path of destruction through the city and suburbs damaging over 600 homes, businesses and institutions along with hundreds of historic trees. BNIM and the planning team worked to engage the community to create a comprehensive plan and implementation strategy to rebuild the seven neighborhoods affected by the tornado.

Visit Rebuild Springfield for more information.

Springfield, Massachusetts
Completion: Ongoing
In collaboration with Concordia, Goody Clancy and Project for Public Spaces, Inc.

Springfield, like many other U.S. cities, has experienced deindustrialization and disinvestment in the central neighborhoods with certain areas plagued with absentee landlords, vacant properties and crime. However, the tornado, for all its devastation, created an opportunity for the City of Springfield to go beyond recovery and harness the collective will of the people to shape the City of the Future, while preserving and enhancing the historical and cultural underpinnings that make Springfield so special. Over a period of four months, BNIM identified and strengthened relationships within the community, recommended strategies and projects for recovery and revitalization, and most importantly, unified the hope and engagement of residents to create a stronger, more economically vigorous, socially cohesive and environmentally sustainable city.