New York, NY, June 23, 2003 - Project for Public Spaces and Metropolis Magazine announced the winners of the 2003 Great Parks/Great Cities Awards today at the corporate headquarters of JPMorgan Chase. The Honorable Gifford Miller, Speaker of the New York City Council, presented the awards as part of a special reception for participants of the international conference "Great Parks/Great Cities: Celebrating 150 Years of Central Park."

"An active, well-functioning park can jumpstart the comeback of a community - from a small suburban or rural town to a highly urbanized big city," said PPS Vice President Kathy Madden. "The Great Parks/Great Cities Awards provide the platform to show this to the world."

Awards were presented in four categories, in addition to an honorary award for lifetime achievement. Read all about the winners for each category below.

Great Community Place Award

For a smaller park that, although not necessarily well-known nationally, has become a nucleus of social activity and revitalization in its community or neighborhood.

Winners: Duluth Town Green (Duluth, GA) and The Village of Arts and Humanities (North Philadelphia, PA).

Duluth Town Green is a cascading series of green terraces that terminate in the center of the park in front of a Victorian style performance stage and community center. Visible from any point within the Green is a pavilion stage with outdoor seating space that can accommodate up to 10,000 people. An amphitheater directly in front of the stage is designed like a theater-in-the-round with a central patio positioned as a secondary stage for smaller, more intimate events.

Citizens of Duluth now bring their friends to the Town Green and point at it with pride as the identity of their city. The Town Green has had the profound effect of bringing residents of Duluth into the center of town and providing a venue where they can interact and reconnect as a community. What was a dilapidated group of old repair shops and a parking lot is now a green oasis and rest spot. The Green epitomizes the way to recreate a sense of community and place that will lead to the renaissance of a small town. Businesses are returning; new residential units are being developed, activity is increasing, and the center of town is once again "the place to be."

The Village of Arts and Humanities takes up a small block of previously burnt-out, abandoned buildings. Each alley between buildings is lit up by brightly colored murals and shining mirror-lined angel mosaics. Numerous parks surround the area and each one jumps out with the vibrant blues, pinks, and yellows of the murals and shining, colorful mosaics. Seating in the parks has been built by hand with great consideration for the children and adults who will occupy them; mosaic couches and armchairs are overrun by laughing children.

Work crews from the community are formed to help on each project. Community members wanting to help out can find a job with The Village, and be brought into the creative process of the projects, feeling an ownership of art in their community. The Village has integrated itself into the community, expanding each year, and including, never excluding, anyone interested in their vision or wanting to be a part of such publicly created beauty.

Best New Park Award

For a new park (built in the last ten years) that provides a model for the future, where the many functions of community life can take place, where people feel ownership and a sense of pride, and where public space acts as a true common ground.

Winner: Little Turtle Waterway (Logansport, IN).

Little Turtle Waterway covers 4.75 acres of riverbank along the Wabash River. A plaza is located at the trailhead of the waterway, providing access to the river. Two stairways, with seating ledges to the side, lead to a lower sidewalk at the Wabash River's edge. The trail offers five blocks of riverbank walking, uninterrupted by any street crossings. Though it has no lighting of its own, ambient light from downtown is enough for evening users.

The plaza has become a popular destination because of its interpretation of local history and artful reminders of our natural environment. An "engraved pavement brick" program provides an ongoing opportunity for citizens' and visitors' expressions to become a permanent part of the park. The small, manicured plaza has also proved an ideal place for weddings and memorial services. The adjoining lawn area offers a different sort of gathering space, which has accommodated such diverse events as dinner theatres, a motorcycle rally, and circuses.

Little Turtle Waterway's flexible design has allowed it to become a focal point for downtown Logansport. It is used in countless different ways by the community, from families playing in the water to large community events. The Waterway is an essential element in the development of a viable downtown for Logansport.

Great Parks/Great Cities Award For a major park or square in North America that has added significantly to the social, economic and environmental health and well-being of that city.

Honorary Award for Lifetime Achievement

Winners: Central Park and Elizabeth Barlow Rogers.

These two awards go hand in hand. When Elizabeth Barlow Rogers became the first Central Park Administrator in 1979, the park was in dire condition, a ghost of Olmsted and Vaux's original vision. Since she founded the Central Park Conservancy in 1980, the entire park has been touched by her efforts, which are visible to anyone who strolls through the beautifully restored landscapes, explores the nature trails, or visits the splendid gardens in the park.

A list of Central Park's features and events would do little to capture Olmsted and Vaux's inspired achievement. According to Rogers, who is certainly the park's foremost authority, "He [Olmsted] arranged sequences of visual events to climax in stunning vistas...Though every inch of Central Park was shaped and molded by machines and men, the hand of man is never obvious."

Catalyst Award for Urban Park Leadership For a person or organization that has successfully evolved a park or other public space to meet the needs of today's users, by involving the community, building stewardship and making a park the setting for diverse community activities.

Winner: ParkWorks (Cleveland, OH), under the leadership of Ann Zoller.

Since 1988, ParkWorks has focused on the use of urban parks and green spaces as a vital community development tool. Through broad-based beautification efforts, the creation of the School Grounds as Community Parks program, environmental stewardship and other urban parks efforts, ParkWorks has made a significant contribution to quality of life in Cleveland.

After drawing up a "greenspace opportunity map" for downtown Cleveland in 2001, they are now working with city government and local business leaders to turn these opportunities into reality. They have spearheaded stakeholder meetings on the redesign of Public Square, a vital downtown hub and one of Cleveland's most important public spaces. They envision the new Public Square as a world-class civic space, part of an overall strategy to boost Cleveland's image as a livable city. Thanks to ParkWorks and their partners in both the public and the private sectors, truly bold ideas are coming forth in Cleveland. As they revive the city's parks and public spaces, they redefine the city itself.