Year
2012-2014

Client
Fishers Island Community Board

Collaborators
Douglas Rae, Yale School of Management

Awards
2017 AIA CT Honor Award

Sustaining Fishers Island identified and addressed pressing concerns of an unusual island community. Part of Southold, Long Island, NY, Fishers is primarily connected to New London, Connecticut and has no onisland governance. Its population comprised year-round residents who live and work on the island, and “summer people,” wealthy residents who traditionally brought their family to summer on the Island.

By engaging with residents, the team identified the primary challenge facing Fishers as the continuing loss of its year-round population, who provided critical capacity to keep the Island running and contributed to the Island’s authenticity as a place. Limited local government made it difficult to coordinate action to stabilize and support this population.

The plan proposed a framework for redevelopment to attract and retain year-round residents, including affordable housing and new spaces for work, hospitality, culture, education, and recreation, clustered in a village that redeveloped parts of former army base Fort HG Wright as “Wrightville.” The plan also proposed a package of infrastructure improvements, such as ferry service, power, and internet, and provided a blueprint for Incorporating the Island as a village with its own government.