Growing the Grow Smart Awards in 2018
Laura Williams, Doug Woodruff, Paddy Tillett and Ryan Armbruster celebrate the Grow Smart Award for the Grove Plaza.
Our cornerstone annual event celebrated its 14th year on November 5th with the largest attendance and a dynamic keynote by Paddy Tillett touching on the significance of planning for the future, while highlighting how far we have come. The tone of the evening was celebratory, with a record number of projects receiving recognition for exemplifying smart growth principles. Check out the full list of awards here.
With the sunset of Idaho’s first urban renewal district, in the heart of downtown Boise, our Grow Smart Awards event created the perfect opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments within the district and the importance of urban renewal as a smart growth tool. The event was held at Boise Centre East and was free to attend this year, thanks in part to Presenting Sponsor Capital City Development Corporation. We hope to continue the trend set this year and grow the event again next year! During the evening’s event, CCDC premiered a special video highlighting the district, check out clips from the video below.
Thank you to all the wonderful volunteers and sponsors who helped make the event happen. Check out the photo album from the event on our Facebook page, linked here.
Moving Beyond Boise
With 14 years of awarded projects around the state, we have a unique opportunity to bring the celebration outside of Boise as well. This year, we ventured to the Wood River Valley. With half a dozen awards hailing from the region, bringing a Grow Smart Awards event to Ketchum offered an opportunity to celebrate the local award recipients within their local community. Photos below are from the event.
The event provided an opportunity to recognize some of the projects that have made the wood river valley a better place to live, work and recreate. Idaho Smart Growth also presented an award to Dale Bates, 2017 Charles Hummel Award recipient, honoring the role he played in developing the Town Square, the Fourth Street Heritage Corridor and a local residential project.
The city of Ketchum took a leading role in crafting the event, calling it “A Fair on the Square.” Mayor Neil Bradshaw wanted the event to bridge the accomplishments of the past with a chance to garner public comments on ideas for future city projects. Right in line with Idaho Smart Growth’s mission, in creating the event, Mayor Bradshaw said, “Participation and public input is vital to creating a healthy community and a vibrant town.” We agree Mayor Bradshaw! We look forward to bringing the Grow Smart Awards around the state, with our next event happening in spring 2019. Stay tuned!
Walking Tour
Serving as the formal announcement of this year’s award recipients, Idaho Smart Growth hosted our first Walking Tour and Porch Party. The brainchild of ISG board member Sarah Martz, the event was an opportunity to further highlight previous award recipients and continue to raise awareness of the program.
In our inaugural tour, attendees heard from project leaders and toured the facilities of four downtown locations including: the Veltex building, on the corner of 5th and Main; 10 Barrel, on the corner of 9th and Jefferson; the Afton, on the corner of 8th and River; and finished with a tour and porch party at CSHQA headquarters, on the corner of 2nd and Broad.
The tour called attention to the details jurors acknowledged when reviewing the nomination. It also served as an opportunity to tour several locations exemplifying smart growth that have never been nominated, Freak Alley for example.
“Anyone can nominate! It’s easy and we’re happy to help you! Projects don’t have to be new or current!” says Deanna Smith, program coordinator for Idaho Smart Growth.
Nominations will open for the 2019 Grow Smart Awards in early spring. If you would like more information about the nomination and application process, contact our office.
