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Office of Communications Gwen Campbell Media, Community & Education Relations Tel. 318.673.5062 / Fax: 318.673.5087 gwen.campbell@shreveportla.gov | ||
Citing an innovative approach, a vast and effective partnership and a steadfast determination to meet the challenges of transforming an “eyesore into a shining star”, today Shreveport Mayor Cedric B. Glover and Director of Operational Services Mike Strong, proudly accepted the Environmental Protection Agency’s prestigious 2008 Regional/Region 6 Phoenix Award and The People’s Choice Award at the 2009 National Brownfields Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. | Selected from a slate of projects from across the nation, a panel of environmental professionals, business and government leaders chose to present its most valued award to Shreveport, Louisiana, for a well defined and well executed plan of attack in the Brownfields redevelopment of 16 acres of idle and abandoned properties, which is now the location of the city’s thriving $165 million Shreveport Convention Center/Hotel Complex. | In addition, those attending the conference were so impressed with the Brownfields redevelopment project and its success that the Shreveport Convention Center/Hotel Complex project was voted as the conference’s People’s Choice Award for Best Brownfields Project for 2008. | “We are ecstatic,” says Mayor Glover. “We are thrilled that Shreveport has been recognized both regionally and nationally for its Brownfields efforts to take an area of blight and environmental decay and redevelop it into an area that is now prime real estate and has the potential to jump-start development in the downtown area and along the Red River and Cross Bayou. I thank our citizens, our visionaries, our city leadership, past and present, the EPA’s Brownfields’ program and all of our stakeholders that played a part in this incredible transformation.” | “Despite its location at the northern gateway to the downtown area, the site was not attractive to private developers due to concerns about the environmental condition of the properties and remediation costs,” says Director of Operational Services Mike Strong. | “Through the City’s participation in the Brownfields program, these obstacles were removed and the properties were allowed to be developed. Including the 16 acres of the convention center/hotel complex, more than 50 acres in the area have been made environmentally safe and redeveloped since the project began.” | As well as being listed among winners from across the nation, Shreveport’s 2008 Regional Phoenix Award takes the number one spot among projects submitted from Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arkansas. | The Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 National Brownfields Conference, Brownfields 2009 Sustainable Communities Start Here, is the largest, most comprehensive conference in the nation, focused on environmental revitalization and economic redevelopment. | Winners for 2008 and 2009 were announced today as the conference in held on an 18-month cycle. www.brownfieldsconference.org | The Phoenix Award winners represent outstanding revitalization projects from each of the 10 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regions and were selected using a set of five criteria: magnitude of the project, innovative techniques, solutions to regulatory issues, social issues, and impact upon the community. | The 2008 winners: | Region 1: Coastal Brownfields and Wetlands Restoration Project, Stamford, Connecticut | Region 2: Hutchinson Worldwide, Trenton, New Jersey | Region 3: Southeast Federal Center, Washington, DC | Region 4: Tupelo Fairpark, Tupelo, Mississippi | Region 5: Detroit Diesel Redford Renaissance, Redford, Michigan | Region 6: Shreveport Convention Center/Hotel Complex, Shreveport, Louisiana Region 7: Lewis & Clark Landing, Omaha, Nebraska | Region 8: Northside Aztlan Community Center, Fort Collins, Colorado | Region 9: City of Stockton Events Center Project, Stockton, California | Region 10: Banner Bank Building, Boise, Idaho | Community Impact Winner: Roberto Clemente Park, Lancaster, Pennsylvania | The 2009 winners: | Region 1: Eastern Fine Paper Redevelopment, Brewer, Maine | Region 2: Millville Housing Project, Millville, New Jersey | Region 3: Annapolis Towne Center, Parole, Maryland | Region 4: Midtown Miami Redevelopment Initiative, Miami, Florida | Region 5: Menomonee Valley Industrial Center & Community Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Region 6: Oklahoma City Metropolitan Projects | Region 7: 4th Street Place Project, Sioux City, Iowa | Region 8: Idalia Court Landfill Redevelopment, Aurora, Colorado | Region 9: West Covina Commercial Center and Sportsplex Project, West Covina California | Region 10: Watershed@Hillsdale, Portland, Oregon | Community Impact Winner: Homes for Our Troops, Taunton, Massachusetts | ### |
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