2020 Award Winners
Use the link above to watch the 2020 award video, or browse the winner list and project descriptions below.
Honorable Mention in Urban Design – Bluffton NOW! for the Parlor City Plaza
The Parlor City Plaza is a key piece of Bluffton NOW!’s downtown revitalization puzzle. Bluffton NOW! set off on the journey to revitalize downtown Bluffton, Indiana in 2014. Their primary goal is to attract people and investment back to our downtown. As they assessed our options, they determined that what their downtown was missing was a true community gathering space. They broke ground on the project in early 2019. Even as construction was being finished the plaza was able to host 5 events, and investment in their downtown is already on the rise. The Parlor City Plaza gets its name from their community’s nickname “The Parlor City” due to Bluffton’s attention to cleanliness. The parlor traditionally is the first place a person sees in your home and now the plaza and our historic county courthouse are the first things you see in Bluffton’s downtown.
Outstanding Transportation Plan – Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission for the NWI 2050 Plan
The long-range plan to 2050 for Lake, LaPorte, and Porter Counties was adopted by the NIRPC Executive Board on May 16, 2019. NWI 2050 builds on the successes of the award-winning 2040 Plan which was the first comprehensive regional plan for the three-county region. NWI 2050 takes a bold approach by planning at the center of the linkages between transportation, the environment, land use, and economic development. NWI 2050 utilized a method that observes possible future states that allowed Northwestern Indiana regional leaders to contend with the uncertainty the future has in store. The future states planning process considers different possible futures that Northwestern Indiana may experience over the next thirty years. The vision, investment areas, and future states described in the plan were prioritized through public outreach. These priorities became the cornerstone for how funding was appropriated through NIRPC’s Transportation Improvement Program.
Outstanding Economic Development – American Structurepoint, Taylor Siefker Williams Design Group, Policy Analytics, and the One Southern Indiana Regional Development Authority for the Our Region Our Plan – Regional Economic Development Plan
The Our Region | Our Plan – Regional Economic Development Plan revolves around how to better the five- county region and identifies ways that the region can grow together. The regional plan is a suite of documents complementing one another – one regional plan, one RDA organizational work plan, and five county-specific work plans for Clark, Floyd, Jefferson, Scott, and Washington counties. The plan focused on ways to improve the region in seven categories: destinations, workforce, economic development, natural assets, connections, government, and infrastructure. The goal topics also include a series of targets/objectives that are achievable over time. The plan identified roles and responsibilities for the RDA and their supporting regional partners and supporters. It is a clearinghouse for 47 projects that address regional needs and/or provide economic impact to any of the region’s 22 incorporated cities and towns. It identifies four RDA projects to lead as staffing and funding become available.
Honorable Mention in Comprehensive Planning – American Structurepoint, Taylor Siefker Williams Design Group, and the Richmond Advisory Plan Commission for the Richmond Rising: Community Action Plan
The Richmond Rising: Community Action Plan, completed in December 2019, is a comprehensive plan that serves as a blueprint for future development for Richmond’s next decade. The plan became a catalyst to define an entire movement that allows for reinvestment, refinement, and revitalization that provides opportunities for people, agencies, and organizations to make a difference in the community. It also contains 12 critical-path strategies that address the community’s needs and top priorities. These strategies are essential for achieving the community’s visions and goals. To assist in implementing these critical-path strategies, the plan identifies related goals, specific action steps, people or organizations to involve, estimated time frame and costs, and possible funding assistance to explore when addressing the strategies. The City has already begun to implement one of the critical strategies – creating a parks and recreation master plan.
Outstanding Comprehensive Planning – City of Jasper, Taylor Siefker Williams Design Group, Thomas P. Miller & Associates, and Midwestern Engineers, Inc. for the IMPACT Jasper Comprehensive Plan
The IMPACT Jasper Comprehensive Plan breaks the barriers of traditional planning, creating a unique and visionary plan that the City will use as a guide for decision-making over the next ten years. The 14-month planning process included 34 methods or ways the public could provide input, generating over 700 survey participants, a collection of almost 700 unique comments, and participation from 111 elementary school students. Large community participation and strong engagement, in addition to a robust analysis of current conditions that included a deep dive into Jasper’s current conditions. From this solid foundation of visioning and analysis, four major themes emerged; Impact Our Economy, Impact Our Community, Impact Our Legacy, and Impact Our Livability. Each of these themes organizes related goals and prioritized strategies illustrating a wholistic approach that goes beyond the typical plan elements of land use, housing, transportation, utilities, and community facilities to impact Jasper.
Honorable Mention in Best Practice – Loci Creative for the ARTisTREE District Master Plan
The ARTisTREE District Master Plan was developed in 2019 to set forth a clear vision for Greenburg and Decatur County’s ARTisTREE Arts and Cultural District. The planning process provided an opportunity for community members to set a vision for the future of the District. The Plan puts in place a ten-year roadmap to reach the vision through clear goals, objectives and detailed action items. This document was developed by a team of individuals, representing many community organizations. In addition, hundreds of community members provided valuable input throughout the planning process. The ARTisTREE District Master Plan is and will continue to be a collaborative effort. The plan is designed to be a truly living document meant to facilitate ongoing collaboration as the community works to achieve their vision for a world class destination for the arts.
Best Practices – Indianapolis Parks Foundation, Indianapolis Parks and Recreation, and Taylor Siefker Williams Design Group for the Indianapolis Greenways Partnership.
The Indianapolis Greenways Partnership, a public-private partnership between Indianapolis Parks Foundation, the City of Indianapolis, and Taylor Siefker Williams Design Group, was established in 2018 with funding from the Lilly Endowment. The Partnership’s efforts are based upon the premise that providing broad opportunities for residents to engage with the greenways helps to build lifelong advocates, support, and demand for continued investment in the greenway system, especially with underserved user groups. In 2018, the Partnership undertook a 12-month pilot project which included over 22 programs that provided meaningful engagement opportunities for users of all ages, incomes, and demographic types. Programs were developed, facilitated, and documented in the areas of Health, Fitness & Wellbeing; Cultural Enrichment & Engagement; Education & Awareness; and Commercial Engagement. The effort resulted in a documented set of outcomes on return on investment and a blueprint for future trail programming in Indianapolis and other communities.