At the Virginia Main Street (VMS)  Summer Toolkit, a team from Glave and Holmes Architecture walked participants through the creation of a quick 3-D rendering using Google SketchUp.  This free, easy to-use software is being promoted by the National Trust Main Street Center as a community visioning tool, and judging by the response of participants, we can see why.  About 2/3 of participants showed interest in attending a half-day hands-on VMS workshop.  So keep an eye out for the announcement.

In Halifax County, the designated Virginia Main Street community of South Boston is benefitting from a county-wide SketchUp effort. The  Industrial Development Authority (IDA) and the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center (SVHEC)  enlisted interns from the Business of Art & Design program to work with the software. Read the News and Record article on the project.

Has your community tried SketchUp to show a property owner what a building could look like? To show stakeholders how an infill project would change the streetscape?  Let us know and we’ll share your examples with other communities.