Indianapolis Receives National Honor For Fall Creek Place Project

Press Release

Indianapolis – Mayor Bart Peterson and Maury Plambeck, Director of Metropolitan Development, traveled to Reno, Nevada this week for the annual National League of Cities Conference, where today Indianapolis is being presented with one of the prestigious 2006 Awards for Municipal Excellence.

Indianapolis is the Silver winner in the 500,001 and over population category for Fall Creek Place. The creation of Fall Creek Place transformed a blighted inner-city neighborhood into a healthy, mixed-income, and diverse community that provides a range of housing opportunities, recreational amenities, and commercial support services. This project has yielded over $60 million in private mortgages for homes, $24 million in new commercial and mixed-use initiatives, and over $1.2 million per year in new property taxes.

“The tremendous impact of Fall Creek Place stretches far beyond the 26 acres of new and redeveloped homes,” said Mayor Peterson. “This development has truly become a national blueprint for urban revitalization, and Indianapolis is building on its success by applying the Fall Creek Place model to lift up neighborhoods across our city.”

The Awards for Municipal Excellence recognize cities that improve the quality of life in their communities. The National League of Cities has partnered with CH2M Hill, an engineering, construction and consulting firm, since the inception of this awards program in 1989. The Awards for Municipal Excellence identify and showcase outstanding city and town programs that improve the quality of life in America’s communities. Additional information about the Municipal Award is available on NLC’s website, www.nlc.org.

Other winning cities include Erlanger, Ky., Asheville, N.C., Oakland, Calif., Chicago, Ill., Bell Gardens, Calif., Lawton, Okla., Portsmouth, Va. and Tempe, Ariz. These cities were selected for the successful implementation of their projects, and the possible replication of their projects in other cities. Innovation, productive partnerships and the effective use of resources were the hallmarks of their programs. Each city received a cash award, which will be donated to the community non-profit organization of their choice.

“These winners prove that our cities are the leading innovators of our time, creating programs and services that can be replicated all across America,” said NLC President James C. Hunt, councilman from Clarksburg, West Va. “NLC takes pride in showcasing the best and the brightest that cities and towns have to offer.”

Source: City of Indianapolis