This project addresses both the decayed and lacking Infrastructure as well as it introduces a new paradigm approach to Education for a distinct community of people in Long Beach island [a barrier island off Long Island, NY] – it is an exemplary plan that showcases a solution for critical needs of the island in both areas, and creating a model for how to do it right.

Long Beach is a lovely little island that have seen many ups and downs, but is still retaining the natural beauty and the oceanfront spirit. It’s been flooded by many storms and after Sandy it has been going up, i.e. the houses are being elevated. It has also been flooded by swarms of people from NYC and surrounding suburbs, and traffic chokes the town. There is a good argument for an elevated roadway, extending from Loop Parkway (Eastern end) to the Train Station in Central LB, and perhaps even all the way from there to Atlantic Beach Bridge (Western end). This would alleviate the traffic, allow creation of a Green Zone in the eastern part of the island that is currently not residential, and mostly publicly owned, and very importantly provide a safe escape roadway for islanders in case of a major storm.

The central piece of this plan however is the Green Zone (from Loop parkway to Donna Lane), and the School Grounds which will take a large part of it. The idea behind it is that children deserve to learn in the best place we can find, and we shouldn’t cramp them into a brick corner. 

The School grounds would extend from the bay to the ocean, allowing for natural exploration and recreation, and it would welcome various alternative school movements (Montessori, Waldorf, Sudbury Valley, and other, such as self-directed, natural, borderless, etc.) as well as the public schools. The elevated roadway would be noise insulated and pavilions under it would serve as classrooms and various work shops. Some other existing buildings would be converted to specialty labs. It would primarily serve the children of the island.

With a classy architectural plan and leveraging some existing connections, it has a really good chance to become the showcase of both the modern day elevated road infrastructure and the modern day approach to Education.