Mpls Downtown Improvement District Announces 2024 Greening & Public Realm Award Winners
Tuesday, September 24, 2024 at 12:22PM
The Mpls Downtown Improvement District (DID) has announced its Greening & Public Realm Award winners, a group decided by an interactive public vote that includes five first-time winners among the ten categories. The Greening & Public Realm Awards aim to showcase the greening efforts by local organizations and companies that help beautify downtown and its surrounding areas through enhancing our urban landscape.
This year’s awards included five new categories: Best Tree, Best Façade, Best Outdoor Café, Best Sustainable Greening and Best Adopted Garden. These categories highlight the continued expansion of greening and sustainability efforts in downtown Minneapolis.
First-time award winners include the Cottonwood Tree at Water Works Park (Best Tree), ‘Rockman’ by Tom Otterness (Best Public Art), The Monte Carlo (Best Outdoor Café), 3rd Avenue Bridge Renovation (Best Public Realm Improvement), and St. Olaf Boulevard Gardens (Best Adopted Garden).
Loring Greenway won a Greening & Public Realm Award for a record 13th straight year – including winning Best Large Green Space for the eighth year in a row. Peavey Plaza won its fourth straight Greening & Public Realm Award (Best Activated Space) and Minneapolis College took home the award for Best Small Green Space for the second year in a row.
“The Greening and Public Realm Award winners exemplify the commitment to sustainability and greening that is transforming our downtown,” said Adam Duininck, President & CEO of the Mpls Downtown Council and Mpls Downtown Improvement District. “Their efforts not only enhance our public spaces but also inspire the continued expansion of eco-friendly initiatives throughout our urban core. Congratulations to all the winners for their remarkable contributions to our community’s vibrancy.”
Greening & Public Realm Award winners will receive a commemorative plaque created by Wood from the Hood, a Minneapolis-based company that reclaims discarded trees from urban neighborhoods and creates high-quality wood products. Each award will display the year the award was issued and the category that was won. Winning locations will also receive a Greening & Public Realm Awards winner sign to designate their award-winning placemaking and greenery.
Finalists for the Greening & Public Realm Awards were announced on September 5th. Public voting for finalists remained open through September 20th. The finalists were selected and categorized by members of the Mpls DID staff based on criteria including overall year-over-year enhancements as well as continued excellence in their efforts to increase vibrancy in the public realm.
