Shipping containers weigh a few metric tonnes. 

That was the logistical reality that Project for Public Spaces’ Community Placemaking Grant awardees from two different cities learned when coordinating the delivery of the key structural components for completing their reimagined public spaces. On Friday, June 7, 2024, current grantees convened at PPS’s 4th International Placemaking Week in Baltimore, MD, including representatives from two of the awarded organizations, Ansley Whipple, Programming & Activation Project Manager from Midtown Alliance in Atlanta and Elizabeth Mills, Manager Director, and Syron Townsend, Project Manager, from Downtown Dayton Partnership (DDP). They shared how they endeavored to meet the goals of beautifying, activating, and adding functionality to their respective sites by leaning into the practicality and versatility of shipping containers. 

Prior to its transformation, North Ave MARTA Plaza was sadly referred to by some local Atlantans as a “blah-za." MARTA is Atlanta's public transit system and also a partner in this project. The brutalist space was characterized by a lackluster, monochromatic color scheme that made it uninviting, as well as public safety concerns, in part due to lack of foot traffic. Project for Public Spaces was able to award Midtown Alliance a Community Placemaking Grant thanks to funding from Niantic, a tech company focused on engaging the community in the real world through their games, including Pokémon GO. The grant enabled Midtown Alliance to co-create a design with their community, directly funded improvements to the space, and receive technical assistance from our placemaking team from day one to opening date.

Similarly, Dayton’s Courthouse Square was an underutilized area with needs for repair. Since the rise of remote work, it was struggling to increase foot traffic, despite being at the corner of Main Street in the heart of downtown Dayton, steps away from The Arcade innovation center and the Schuster Performing Arts Center. Thanks to funding from GM, Project for Public Spaces awarded Downtown Dayton Partnership with a Community Placemaking Grant to turn the place around. 

After Project for Public Spaces led a series of visioning sessions with each community, the goal to create multi-use destinations was clear. Both Midtown Alliance and Downtown Dayton Partnership, and their partners, were focused on making the spaces inviting by programming them with events and activities that would demonstrate visible investment in the areas and highlight local talent. As a major component of their improvement plans, shipping containers were a great way to quickly and efficiently address many of the issues voiced by their communities. 

Why a Box?

Simple: It’s practical. 

For many venues, lack of storage for essential furniture like movable chairs and tables, or equipment and tools for A/V like speakers and mic stands, can be a major roadblock for organizers, especially those looking to produce and implement regular programming. After all, where do you stow away your equipment when not in use? How do you get props from one place to another during event production? Shipping containers are literally built for the job.

This multi-use practicality is embraced at both sites. At North Ave MARTA Plaza, a transit hub in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, the container stores event production equipment. At Courthouse Square in Downtown Dayton, Ohio, the container houses pop-up refreshments, games to lend out, and other props and tools used by nonprofit and arts organizations that offer activities for community members. 

Local Artists, Local Attraction

Progressively becoming more than just a box, the containers were also anchors for solving other issues and meeting the ambitions of the grantees through art and entertainment. 

While increasing programming was a major goal to invite people back into these spaces, both grantees were mindful of what the spaces would look like, and how the public would engage with them, when the spaces were not activated by an event or activity. The possibility of the plaza turning back into “blah-za”—even for only some time—was not an option. Therefore, turning the containers into canvases for artwork and to add a mood-enhancing color palette, was part of the game plan. At both sites, the structures themselves underwent makeovers with the help of local artists who wrapped them with vibrant colors reflecting inviting themes. 

At MARTA, with additional support from Norfolk Southern, Midtown Alliance commissioned Carla Contreras, a local Atlantan and artist-in-residence for Norfolk Southern, to create a mural that stretches across the facade of the MARTA building and spreads onto the shipping container, which transforms into a performance stage for community events. The vibrant mural, titled “Samaras” (meaning closed, one-seeded winged fruits), features beautiful maple seeds blowing in the wind. The artist described the message as celebrating “the hope, renewal, and energy found in Midtown’s public spaces through artistic expression that elevates the urban experience for everyone.” 

Over in Dayton, the container at Courthouse Square also underwent an artistic transformation thanks to local muralists, Atalie Gagnet and Maggie Leadman, bringing to life marketing design created by TriComB2B. Surrounded by bright, neon-colored outdoor seating, the container, named “CURIO,” features a splash of green and fun geometric shapes reflecting the playful programming that invigorates the space. 

Activate, Activate, Activate! 

Starting with a common “party in a box” concept, both organizations have each in their own way embraced the mission to activate these spaces with community-focused programming and events. 

Both sites have shared related announcements and updates about programming in these spaces in their communications channels including email, social media, print calendars, and even billboard advertising. 

On June 12, 2024, Midtown Alliance hosted a community launch party that featured food trucks and live entertainment, with the container being a stage and a central gathering point. They are planning to fulfill the wishes of the community, as reflected in engagement surveys that pointed to amenities like shade, food trucks, access to bus tracking from the plaza, outdoor seating, and Wi-Fi, as well as social gatherings for readings, roundtables, exercise, and more. 

DDP debuted CURIO in May 2024 and launched ongoing programming to draw daytime traffic throughout the weekdays and engage workers and the downtown arts community. From May through September, CURIO will be a gathering spot featuring free lunchtime entertainment, including trivia, workouts, and performances. They will also host a mix of weekly social events like a market, karaoke (“CURIOke”), arts, and bingo. Local food vendors also set up at Courthouse Square, now complete with amenities like outdoor furniture. DDP has further leveraged alliances with its “CURIO community” to lend its space to other groups and organizers looking to connect with visitors. 

Project for Public Spaces looks forward to seeing these spaces thrive with the help of this unexpected catalyst of placemaking—the humble shipping container.

Support Project for Public Spaces’ Community Placemaking Grants

Project for Public Spaces’ Community Placemaking Grants enable US-based nonprofits and government agencies to address inequality of access to public places that serve community needs by working directly with local stakeholders to transform spaces or co-create new ones. We do this by providing direct funding, technical assistance, and capacity building facilitated by Project for Public Spaces.

Project for Public Spaces is actively seeking philanthropic contributions for the next round of Community Placemaking Grants. Click here to learn more about how to support this important initiative.