When I heard about the Eddy Gate Project, I was initially a little confused. All I knew of Eddy gate was that it was an apartment building. The actual event was held in the alley near the black wrought iron gate next to Cascadilla Hall. The project’s goal was to bring more visibility and vitality to the empty alley near the gate, and I can see why it was needed. Normally, that alley is entirely empty and the gate is an ornate entrance to nowhere. However, the project entirely transformed the area with nice outdoor seating, games, food trucks, and live entertainment. They even had an innovative “polling station” where you could leave a review on the event by dropping a colored ball into a container. Overall, the event was pretty great.

The idea of taking an underused or empty space and making it something valuable is a great one. I feel like most modern thought is geared towards creating something entirely new, rather than simply reworking the old. We didn’t need to construct an entirely new area to be a venue for outdoor gatherings. The Eddy Project took an existing structure and made it into a venue. I think it’s a valuable concept that we can all apply, whether on a small scale or large one.

*here is a photo for proof that I attended the Eddy Gate project.