(Baton Rouge) An upcoming exhibit will showcase the work of fourth-year students in the LSU School of Architecture, who have spent their semester assisting the city of McComb, Mississippi with sustainable downtown redevelopment.

The exhibit and review will be held Thursday, December 11, from 3-5 PM in the Design Building Commons on the LSU Campus. It will feature the work of all 29 fourth-year students and include a 3-D Google map of downtown McComb, as well as a series of urban investigation maps completed by each student and a variety of facade studies done by the students for vacant properties along the city’s Main Street.

The students conducted field research in McComb in late September over the course of three days. They completed an inventory of the downtown core, and familiarized themselves with the area to get a feeling for what goes on in the city’s downtown. Next semester, the project will continue when students spend several weeks in McComb working on design plans that address walkability and sustainable redevelopment.

“We’ve never done anything like this before,” says Architecture Professor Marsha Cuddeback, who is leading the studio. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for our students to get experience out in the field while also making a difference in a community that can benefit from their help.

The project is being done in partnership Roger Nickerson, manager of the McComb Main Street Association, and Steve Cox, a McComb architect and graduate of the LSU School of Architecture.