Tallahassee project among Awards of Excellence recipients
Photo by St. Clair Murraine
Special to the Outlook
The Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association announced the recipients of its 2023 Project Awards. A record seven Awards of Excellence will be distributed, and due to the close competition of student project submissions, the chapter will acknowledge four Outstanding Student Projects.
The APA Florida Project Awards program provides the chapter the opportunity to recognize outstanding planning projects throughout the state at its annual Florida Planning Conference. The program provides APA Florida members with the chance to see and learn about development, conservation, government, or environmental projects, where planning has had a positive impact on the outcome.
“Each year, I am impressed with the innovative projects nominated for the chapter’s planning awards,” said APA Florida President Whit Blanton, FAICP. “This year’s slate of recipients is no different. We are recognizing outstanding projects among which focus on readying resilient cities, preparing for aging populations, and providing activities for our young residents through unique projects that continues to prove Florida planners are truly leaders in the planning field nationwide.”
Awards Chair Melissa Zornitta, FAICP, added: “This year’s awards applicants made a very competitive field of candidates; the projects were all of a very high caliber, representing some great planning across the state of Florida. The student awards were truly remarkable this year; the committee thought that the work stood out in comparison to previous years and was very impressive given it was being done by students.”
The recipients are: Best Practices
- Award of Excellence – Special Committee on Critical Quality of Life Issues (Northeast Florida Regional Planning Council & City of Jacksonville)
- Award of Merit – Resilient Ready Tampa Bay (Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council) Implementation Project Award
- Award of Excellence – Healthy West Orange Wellness Park (City of Ocoee)
- Award of Excellence – City of Groveland’s Dark Sky Initiative (City of Groveland)
- Award of Excellence – Skateable Art Park (Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency & the City of Tallahassee)
- Award of Merit – BTactical Lake Ridge Pilot Project (Street Plans, Broward MPO, City of Fort Lauderdale)
- Award of Merit – The Bay: “One Park for All” in Sarasota (Agency Landscape + Planning and Sasaki) Innovation in Planning for All Ages
- Award of Excellence – Livable Orlando: An Age-Friendly Initiative Action Plan 2022 – 2025 (City of Orlando) Neighborhood Planning
- Award of Excellence – Wimauma Downtown Revitalization Action Plan (Hillsborough County) Outstanding Student Project
- Award of Excellence – North Star Legacy Communities: Gadsden County Heritage (Florida State University) • Award of Merit – B-Hive (University of South Florida) • Award of Merit – SPARC’ing Community Spaces for Arts and Wellness (University of Florida)
- Award of Merit – St. Petersburg Innovation District Neighborhood Master Plan (University of South Florida)
The Project Awards recipients will be recognized during the opening session on Sept. 6, at the 2023 Florida Planning Conference in Jacksonville.
