STATEMENT

Salem, Massachusetts provides a unique case study in exploring opportunities to re-imagine waterfronts within urban landscapes that have been vacated as a result of de-industrialization. As the birthplace of the National Guard and with a prosperous trading industry, Salem is a coastal city rich in maritime history along with the infamous witch trials of 1692. The project site is situated on a parcel of land that was previously the grounds of a coal-fired power plant. Recently, a smaller and more efficient power plant has been constructed, leaving the city with an opportunity to re-purpose and revitalize the remaining waterfront. Currently, Salem has drafted plans to use a portion of the site as a cruise ship terminal that would enhance the city’s tourist industry. The project Salem Flux proposes a future site that not only caters to a new wave of tourism but additionally augments Salem’s economy and community needs through the lens of a working waterfront that promotes open space, waterfront access, and resiliency while providing local benefits at varying scales of design.  

CONTEXT

Salem, Massachusetts is widely viewed as a popular destination for tourists exploring the New England Region. With multiple attractions rooted in the history and culture of the city, Salem draws crowds with various interests, such as the Peabody Essex Museum, the historic Witch House and the House of Seven Gables. Before any initial design procedure occurred, the project team of Salem Flux took an approach that would lead to a design that acknowledges the site’s context, including an understanding of the spirit, pride, and identity that Salem residents share with visitors. By positioning the touristic postcard as an artifact that carries with it the materiality of Salem, numerous cards were collected and categorized based on shared similarities and reoccurrences. The resulting output generated five themes that manifest a perception of Salem’s identity and what draws people to visit this community. These typologies include Salem’s maritime history, the Willows park which includes multiple recreational programming, cultural buildings linked to historical figures and events, the witch trials of 1692, and multiple distinct neighborhood characters.

Spatially analyzing the flow and circulation of visitors becomes an important matter to explore as it leads to an understanding and grounding of the current state of tourist affairs and the project site’s relationship within these parameters. Four hierarchies including historic attractions, points of interest, and lodging are pinned along with transit and pedestrian infrastructure. Salem’s current commuter rail and ferry landing are taken into consideration. What can’t be ignored is Salem’s unique heritage trail that’s incorporated within downtown Salem, enabling tourists to engage in self-guided tours. The findings reveal that the site is at the very edge of Salem’s commercial zone and the heritage trail where the presence of tourist activities and attractions becomes minimal. To add, the city’s ferry landing, which functions as a main access point to Salem from Boston, is situated adjacent to the project site. With this in mind, the proposed site has opportunities to expand and connect to existing flows and points within the downtown core. Additionally, the site provides an opportunity to function as a waterfront amenity for not only visitors but the people that live in the neighborhood across from the site.

PROJECT SITE:

Over a couple of centuries, the project site has experienced multiple transformations but has consistently shared a connection to Salem Harbor and the city’s industrial waterfront. During the early portion of the 20th century, the site was a body of water that bordered the neck of Salem proper and the eastern peninsula with an industrial pier and rail line. Over a course of time, the water was filled, and erected in place was a coal-fired power plant. In more recent years, the site has once again transformed, resulting in a downsizing of the industrial footprint by a more efficient power plant run on demand. The remaining property has been allocated for the city; however, development must be contingent on the Massachusetts Public Waterfront Act which promotes pedestrian access to waterfronts and encourages local waterfront land uses

SALEM FLUX:

In simple terms, flux is defined as the action or process of flows. With this in mind, the project’s site and context find itself absorbed within this state in terms of pedestrian and tourist movement, scales of industry, and a hydrologic regime. As part of Salem Flux, the site starts to develop as a concept of a space that becomes a generating force and intersection of activity flowing in and out of the site’s physical boundaries. When looking at the surrounding area of the site and Salem in its entirety, many areas display examples of Salem’s working landscapes including a wastewater treatment plant, a fuel storage site, and of course, the neighboring gas power plant. But in conjunction, there are also the less industrial and more ecological working landscapes such as Salem’s marina, the Willows, and Winter Island Park. The site can start to position itself as a hybrid that combines both industrial and ecological landscapes. But a question this project seeks to address is how a productive waterfront sparked by plans for a cruise ship terminal has the potential to also provide benefits for the local community.

Zooming out to a larger scale, five areas have helped identify an on-site industry that can establish connections to the surrounding community. Within proximity to the site is the historic Salem harbor, a recreational area, and a conservation area where the project’s on-site activity can become an open space connector. As part of Chapter 91, aquaculture is an approved industry suitable for the waterfront site. Taking the findings of Salem’s culture and identity and its surrounding context into consideration, aquaculture, recently promoted for expansion by the Commonwealth, establishes a degree of appropriateness for developing.

OYSTER OPERATIONS

The project aims to embrace aquaculture as a working waterfront landscape by introducing an oyster facility for harvesting spat on-site which can provide benefits to the Salem region in multiple ways. The first is looking at the facility as a hatchery to produce spat that can be sold to oyster farmers throughout New England. Additionally, the facility can be utilized in a way that supports spat for potential oyster farming in a zone approved five miles offshore in the neighboring town of Marblehead as Salem Harbor is prohibited by the Commonwealth to harvest oysters for human consumption. The farming operations additionally can function within the realm of eco-tourism and enable tourist to visit the oyster facilities and even travel to the off-site farm by boat. The project aims to not only use an on-site oyster facility for harvesting but can also form a partnership with Salem State University’s aquaculture program for research purposes. A vital component of establishing an oyster facility on-site is the potential it has in promoting coastal resiliency during storm surges and flooding. The project site is envisioned to produce spat not only for farming purposes but to additionally produce young oysters to the neighboring Collins Cove, Juniper Cove, and Cat Cove which have all been identified as zones vulnerable to coastal flooding. Two interventions that the produced oysters can be utilized for establishing living breakwaters that implement bagged shells or natural oyster reefs in the coves’ mudflat zones.

ON-SITE DESIGN

In addition to oyster operations, the site’s layout is primarily influenced and informed by the existing site run-off and inundation. The existing site experiences flooding at two main points once five feet of inundation is surpassed. Additionally, these two zones are the main outlets for run-off and become a unique convergence of where fresh and saltwater come into contact. Through surface analysis, high and low points were identified resulting in topo manipulation with two intents of either creating a permanent body of water or re-directing and capturing water temporarily. With 9 ft of tide variation, the new terrain establishes unique zones including islands that also enable different types of planting and experiences. With a large cut-in that establishes a new cove that enables boat access for the oyster facility along with influencing water flow, the history of the site additionally reveals itself prior to being filled in. Navigating towards the cruise ship docking zone, a maritime museum is incorporated along with a terminal welcome center with public amenities including seasonal event space, and a small commercial zone. Throughout the water edge are different moments for human connection to the waterfront including look-out platforms constructed of wooden planks that take materiality into consideration and allude to Salem’s maritime history.

This re-imagination of a vacant waterfront ultimately establishes itself within the context of Salem that operates on multiple scales as a working waterfront in promoting open space, waterfront access and resiliency for its users.