1000 Friends of Iowa announces 13 winners, 9 categories, 5 jurors

1000 Friends of Iowa is pleased to announce the winners of the 2019 Best Development Awards. The awards program showcases projects that recognize connections between building and project development to quality of life. With a mission focused on responsible land use, 1000 Friends of Iowa promotes smart growth planning principles that help achieve socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable communities. Projects recognized this year are located in the following communities: Altoona, Belle Plaine, Coralville, Davenport, Dyersville, Fort Madison, Grinnell, Iowa City, Johnson County, Knoxville, Marshalltown, Readlyn, and Stanton.

Plaques will be presented to winning applicants at an awards ceremony on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020, at the Iowa State Capitol Building, First Floor Rotunda, from 12 noon to 1:00 p.m. The public is invited to attend. Register here.

The hard work of the 2019 Best Development Award winners is acknowledged today ahead of the presentation ceremony. The category, project name, and city are listed here, followed by a short description and local contact.

New Civic: Unitarian Universalist Society Church, Coralville Over 200 friends and members of the Society informed a zero energy, accessible building that shares parking spaces with neighboring lots; planned the entire site for preservation of natural woodland and stormwater management; solar and geothermal energy; sustainable construction materials and conservation-minded finishes and fixtures. Contact: publicity@uusic.org

Renovated Civic: Grinnell Central Park, Grinnell Gifted to the City in the last 1800’s, generations of citizens experienced Central Park. By modernizing and updating the park, the adjacent downtown has also seen new energy. With a healthy mix of funding sources, the history and culture of Grinnell are honored. Simultaneously, the site’s greenspace, stormwater management, and safety are also enhancing the park to be an asset that its citizens love to use. Contact: rbehrens@grinnelliowa.gov

Renovated Commercial: Textile Brewing Company, Dyersville Dyersville Industries took a vacant, blighted downtown “Sewing Factory” building, restored it, and converted it into a place for community. Using contents inside the building and preserving the original structure, history is acknowledged in the walls, decor, and furnishings. The business has caused a ripple effect in tourism, downtown traffic, and awareness of water quality. Contact: jrahe@dyersville.com

Innovative Leadership: Solarize Johnson County 2018 Many stakeholders executed an education and group-buy program for solar arrays in both urban and rural areas. Using mostly existing rooftops, the project adds 1.12 MW of solar energy to the County. Modeling after another city’s solar group buy, Solarize Johnson County’s is “paying it forward” by presenting their work to other audiences. Contact: greenteam@co.johnson.ia.us

Mixed Use (tie): Lee County Bank and Cattermole Library, Fort Madison Fort Madison’s Downtown Commercial Historic District included the Lee County Bank, built in 1893, and Cattermole Library, built in 1894. Both sat vacant for many years. Barker Companies rehabilitated and renovated the exterior and interior of both buildings, leading to a renewed downtown area. The two upper floors of the Bank were transformed into 14 apartments while the lower floor was left mostly unchanged. The Cattermole Library was also converted to apartments on its upper floor while the lower floor is offices, with the original library circulation desk as the reception desk. Now fully occupied, the buildings are inspiring other activity in the historic district. Contact: kylegalloway@barkercompanies.com

Mixed Use (tie): Mason Building Renovation, Stanton With significant community buy-in, the Mason Building (also called the Tarkio Masonic Lodge), fits 1000 Friends of Iowa’s smart growth principles very well for high quality of life. Using private and public funds, reusing an existing structure built in 1878, the space now houses an apartment and two commercial tenants. Owners of an additional 13 downtown buildings are now looking at uplifting their facades. Contact: mickeyanderson01@gmail.com

Renewable Energy: Knoxville Community School District, Knoxville With 11 of its 12 facilities installing solar systems, 92% of the District’s electricity is now supplied by solar energy. Financed with a power purchase agreement (with Red Lion Renewables, a previous Innovative Leadership winner), the district expects to save $8500 annually and reduce carbon emissions by 1,235 tons per year over the 30 year lifetime of the arrays. Additionally, live data sharing is available between arrays, and a tool is under development to use this data for student lessons. Contact: craig.mobley@kcsd.k12.ia.us

New Residential , Owner-Occupied: Prairie Hill Cohousing, Iowa City Built on an 8-acre infill, the Prairie Hill development supports alternative transportation with its location near downtown, the university, a bus stop, and businesses. Duplexes and 4-plexes were designed to shared walls and roofs to reduce the use of sustainable construction materials, solar panels, and labor costs. The site was planted for low-irrigation and no-mow space, with stormwater management practices installed. The development also supports many price points to make housing accessible and affordable. Contact: delholland@aol.com

New Residential, Multi-family Rental: Altoona Towers, Altoona The Altoona Towers were built for energy efficiency and include charging stations for electric cars, a bus stop, proximity to bicycle trails. Thoughtful consideration of building and site successfully show that landlords can make capital investments to keep tenant utility bills at a minimum, even if the tenant is not conservation-minded. By using energy efficient construction materials, appliances, window dressings, and lighting in rental housing, energy consumption can affordably be reduced to the benefit of the tenant and the landlord. Contact: keith@ppm-inc.com

Renovated Residential: Naval Station, Davenport Built in 1904, our Renovated Residential winner has seen many uses as a grade school, a naval training station, and storage facility. Today, it is an excellent example of an adaptive reuse of an historic building with an integrated stormwater management system. After sitting in disrepair as a blighted lot, the Naval Station was renovated and rehabilitated for mixed income senior homes. By addressing the entire site, neighborhood got an uplift from a number of funding sources to the infrastructure and the lot, as well as launching a domino effect in an historic area. The use of salvaged and sustainable construction materials, inclusion of alternative transportation, thoughtful landscaping, and interior work contributes to its positive environmental impact. Contact: chris@alespc.com

Stormwater Management, Private: Gallery Garden, Marshalltown The land for this project was vacant because of a building fire. It was privately developed into a unique, urban park space that addresses multiple stormwater issues for the area. The focal point is a gallery garden wall, which is irrigated by the stormwater. The resources on the site stay on the site, with the irrigation system, lighting, and cameras all powered by solar panels. With its shelter and seating, the Gallery Garden is a popular public location for viewing artwork and the garden features, events, photography, and more. Its signage educates users about the sustainable practices. Contact: bkh91753@gmail.com

Stormwater Management, Public: Readlyn Wetland, Readlyn Runoff from more than half of the City flows into this created wetland to reduce stormwater wetland, which benefits everyone downstream in the 95-acre watershed. The property for the wetland was purchased from a private landowner and future plans include a recreational walking trail. Moreover, a trailhead for the Rolling Prairie Trail is nearby and supports a high quality of life for residents. The Watershed Management Authority and the local school have been involved, including a grant awarded for students to install edgeland plants along the wetland in 2020. Contact: dcjblkw@yahoo.com

Urban Placemaking/Greenspace: Larry Schlue Memorial Sound Park, Belle Plaine After 5 years of collaboration across many sectors, the City of Belle Plaine converted an underused grassy lot with benches into a space that honors the railroad culture of the town, a man who was a champion for his community, and connects many users to downtown. The Sound Park builds off an earlier revitalization effort to support a thriving and walkable business district. Contact: director@bpcdc.net

Winners of the Best Development Awards are selected from a pool of applicants each year in up to twelve categories by a panel of jurors. This year’s jurors have a variety of backgrounds: Pat Boddy, Stewardship Director for RDG Planning and Design; Megan Down, Project Manager for Impact7G; Jeff Geerts, Special Projects Manager for Iowa Economic Development Authority; Jeff Hanson, Community Development Operations Manager for the City of Sioux City, and Ulrike Passe, Associate Professor of Architecture and Director of the Iowa State University Center for Building Energy Research.

1000 Friends of Iowa, founded in 1998, is a statewide nonprofit organization focused on land use education. Its mission is to unite Iowans in efforts to protect farmland and natural areas, revitalize neighborhoods, towns and cities, and improve the quality of life for future generations.

The Best Development Awards Program, founded in 2001, recognizes the organization’s mission in a tangible manner through awards in twelve categories.