Research Proposal

Updates:

I was very encouraged after meeting with the Jimmie Austin the community contact for Hanson Professional Services last week. He was very welcoming and invited me to meet with him to answer an of my questions. I was able to get a complete understanding of the scope of the project while looking at a huge map of the city. He even gave me this map and a couple others to take home with me! He discussed some details regarding the land acquisition process and how property owners have responded to it thus far. I was enlightened on some of the relevant programs they have been using to help property owners through the process –  such as Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition for the Federally-Assisted Programs Act. He encouraged me to reach out to him with any other concerns or questions, and he was happy to do any video interviews in the future. He also informed me more in detail about the safety hazards involved with the existing railroad tracks. I was informed that there had been several recent accidents and death that involved the train tracks. I will be looking for news coverage on some of these incidents to possibly include them on my website.  I look forward to working with him as he was really easy to talk to and he is actually from Springfield, IL area.

I struggled previously honing in on a specific topic for my conflict, but after speaking with Mr.Austin it became more clear to me what it is I want to focus on.  There are a couple areas where at least 80% of the homeowners that had to be displaced for this project were African American. My focus is the impact the land acquisition will make on the African- American communities, specifically business owners and property owners. I am under the impression at this point that Springfield and Hanson Professional Services has done a very thorough job at making this process as smooth as possible for all parties involved. There are other aspects of the project that affect African American history, which includes the excavation of the Springfield 1908 Race Riot site. This site is of great importance to the African American community, I was told that this event even led to the formation of the NAACP. This is another area of conflict that must be explored because the land at this site is being used for the SRIP. There were many people who cared deeply about its history and contested its use. As I said this is a very large project and it includes a lot of information, history, stakeholders, etc., so I will be doing my best as to get a complete story for my audience without overwhelming myself !

Title:
Catchy Title: Tentative
Title: The Springfield Railroad Improvements Project: Effects on the African American Community

Mission/Goal of Project:
The Springfield Railroad Improvements Project is essentially a $314 million dollar railroad consolidation project in the city of Springfield, Illinois. Construction began September 2014 and it is expected to be completed in the year 2020. The sponsors include The City of Springfield, Sangamon County, and IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation). The City of Springfield has hired Hanson Professional Services to design and manage the project. The reason for this rail consolidation is two-fold: to promote public safety and to reduce vehicular travel times and congestion. This project requires 42 acres of land to be completed in accordance with the approve design, which will require land acquisition of 117 residential displacements, and 50 commercial displacements. My research will explore the land acquisition process and its effects on the African American community. I will explore, analyze, and present aspects of the displacement process from both the perspectives of property owners and the SRIP sponsors as well as several key stakeholders involved. The main objective of this website is not only to provide a resource for conflict resolution, but also to give the parties involved a voice. I would also like to explore and present similar historical projects that may have presented a conflict for further comparison.

Relevance:
As we continue to progress as a society urban improvements are inevitable – whether the purpose is public safety, urban vitality, or simply basic land development, there will always be an impact on the community. It is important to explore the SRIP as a conflict because it involves major reconstruction and land acquisition. Although the SRIP will make an environmental, social, and economic impact, I will focus on the impact it will make on the African American community – particularly displacement. I expect to report several approaches to resolving this conflict and others similar to this one. With the development of this project website I hope to provide a resource for those who may be interested in civic welfare, peaceful land development, conflict negotiation, and conflict resolution. This project will focus on conflict that affects minority groups, and highlight conflict resolution that promotes diversity and equality.

My website will contain the following tabs/pages/information:
My project is a contemporary issue, so the majority of its information will not be historical. For this reason, my website will be very informative, explanatory, and almost journalistic. I will include videos/interviews from Hanson Professional Services, historians/academics, community representatives, displaced property owners, and key stakeholders. I will also include photographs of areas and or people that have been affected by the Springfield Rail Improvements Project. I expect to include a timeline that will display all major events.

Technical details:

Considering the fact that the SRIP is a complex project that covers a vast area, and will be completed in phases, I would like for my website to be very user friendly and easy to navigate. My objective is to create a layout that will allow users who know nothing about the project to become fluent and informed about the topic. I would like to minimize the amount of overwhelming text, and try to break the information up into digestible paragraphs.

Tools/Programs:

Interactive Maps: The SRIP is hard to conceptualize without a map. For this reason, I would like to include an interactive map so that my audience will be able to visually compare existing conditions versus the future design in real time by just hovering over the different areas. I will also design a map that presents city demographics as well as displacement/land acquisition. This will help the audience visualize how the land acquisition will impact the African American community.

Timeline: My inclusive timeline will include major events related to the project and its impact on the African American community. This will help the audience understand both the development and the outcomes of the project in a linear fashion.

MetaSlider: I will use MetaSlider to embed a slideshow of photos with relevant photos.

YouTube: For embedding videos of interviews.

Search Feature: I will include a search box so that users can quickly locate specific information.