Urban designs honored
Rogers High School, city pools among award winners
Sixteen buildings, projects and organizations received recognition in the second Mayor’s Urban Design Awards.
The awards, presented every two years after consideration by the Spokane Design Review Committee, went to projects as diverse as the restored Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox and the city’s new pools, a skate park in Hillyard and the Riverpoint campus of Washington State University and Eastern Washington University near downtown.
Mayor Mary Verner, who helped present the awards, said the projects “most significantly improved the quality of life” in Spokane.
Among those honored at Monday night’s City Council meeting was King Cole, president of Expo ’74. Spokane’s World’s Fair and its site, which became Riverfront Park, received a special award as a Heritage Project.
Cole, 87, called the award “a great moment of happiness,” but said he was just one of so many people who made the fair happen that the city doesn’t have a place big enough to gather all of them in one room.
The Downtown Spokane Partnership, a nonprofit group that promotes the downtown area, received the Creative Citizen Award. The Hillyard Skate Park, which the committee considered an excellent project though it wasn’t submitted for consideration, also earned special recognition.
The Mayor’s Choice Awards, selected for overall urban design excellence, went to:
• The new Rogers High School, which formally opened last weekend, designed by NAC/Architecture.
• Washington State University College of Nursing, designed by Integrus Architects.
• The new city aquatics facilities, designed by ALSC Architects.
• WSU Riverpoint Campus Master Plan, by NAC/Architecture.
The Design Review Committee, selected the following winners based on 15 criteria for good urban design:
• The Village at Regal Pond, designed by Bernardo-Wills Architects and owned by Tombari Properties.
• Ponderosa Ridge Townhomes and Cottages, owned by Greenstone Homes and Neighborhoods.
• The AmericanWest Bank Building, designed by Steven A. Meek Architects, owned by Michael McDowell.
• The NAC/Architecture addition, designed and owned by that company.
• Catholic Charities Family Services Center, designed by Heylman Martin Architects, owned by Catholic Charities of Spokane.
• Gonzaga University West Boone Pedestrian Mall, designed by Sherry Pratt VanVoorhis Landscape Architects.
• Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox, designed by NAC/Architecture, owned by the Spokane Symphony.
• Half Moon Pocket Park in Liberty Lake, owned by Greenstone Homes and Neighborhoods.
The People’s Choice Award, which was awarded by a public vote, went to the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox.