| Tampa, FL – The Planning Commission is proud to announce the winners of our 40th Annual Planning & Design Awards presented by TECO. This celebration of excellence in planning and design in Hillsborough County was held on Thursday, October 27, 2022. Our annual awards program aligns with the many national festivities held during the American Planning Association‘s National Community Planning Month. Established in 2006, #PlanningMonth highlights the role of planners and the importance of good community planning. The event was held at the Bryan Glazer Family Jewish Community Center, winner of the Jan Abell Award for Outstanding Contribution in Historic Preservation at the Planning Commission’s 35th Annual Planning and Design Awards presented by TECO in 2017. Photographs of the event and award winners can be viewed in an album on the Planning Commission’s Facebook page. |
| A 40 year tradition!The Planning Commission has been recognizing excellence in planning and design for 40 years. Created to inspire and promote good practices that would turn the challenges that come with growth into opportunities for the Cities of Tampa, Temple Terrace, Plant City and unincorporated Hillsborough County, this annual awards program was born almost out of necessity. Learn more about the inspiration for this well-respected tradition in a brief 40th Anniversary video. |
| Thank you to our host & jury!Award winners were selected by a panel of distinguished judges from outside of Hillsborough County. Five Awards of Merit, four Awards of Excellence, four Awards of Outstanding Contribution to the Community, and one Judges Choice Award were presented by Brendan McLaughlin, who has hosted this event since 2009. |  |
| Thank you to our host & jury!Award winners were selected by a panel of distinguished judges from outside of Hillsborough County. Five Awards of Merit, four Awards of Excellence, four Awards of Outstanding Contribution to the Community, and one Judges Choice Award were presented by Brendan McLaughlin, who has hosted this event since 2009. |
| Awards of Outstanding Contribution to the Community |
| Hillsborough County Biosolids Composting Facility |
| Environmental Category |
| Hillsborough County Board of County CommissionersHillsborough County Solid Waste Management DepartmentHillsborough County Water Resources DepartmentSCS Engineers |
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| Grass clippings, leaves, tree trimmings yard waste is typically hauled away for private disposal, while wastewater by-products, known as biosolids, are trucked to regional landfills. To plan for more efficient regional growth, and to maximize return on the use of tax-payer dollars, Hillsborough County began planning an innovative approach to disposal of these waste streams in 2014. After years of planning, researching markets, and operating a proof-of-concept pilot program by the Solid Waste Management and the Water Resources Departments, Hillsborough County constructed the largest biosolids composting operation under one roof in the state of Florida at the Southeast County Landfill in 2019. The Biosolids Composting Facility now converts the two waste streams into a marketable commercial scale compost product, certified as the highest quality available by the US Composting Council. Aligning with multiple Solid Waste System Objectives outlined in the Unincorporated Hillsborough County Comprehensive Plan, this inter-departmental collaboration leads by example. It leverages waste as a resource, diverts waste from the landfill, reduces disposal vehicle miles traveled, and improves infrastructure resilience. Taking reduce, reuse, and recycle to the extreme… Currently, the Solid Waste Management Department repurposes approximately half of the biosolids generated at water treatment plants to produce up to 35,000 tons of compost annually, generating a savings of almost $300,000 each year. Add the estimated annual savings in biosolids transportation and disposal fees in excess of $700,000 after labor and operations costs, and top that off with a yard waste disposal fees savings of about $200,000 per year. It seems trash truly can be turned into a community treasure to the tune of about $1.2 million each year! With an initial capital investment of $6.2 million dollars, the composting facility will break even in 2025, while simultaneously reducing landfill reliance for the life of the facility. After great consideration, the judges could see only the plus side of this rather elaborate tent. Beyond the obvious economic benefit, the compost is used locally within Hillsborough County, returning a product with value where waste was once generated. This innovative investment is already hard at work creating a more sustainable future for County citizens and our precious environment! |
| Safe Access to Parks |
| Planning Category |
| Fehr & PeersPatel, Green & Associates, LLCHillsborough Transportation Planning Organization |
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| Building on the Vision Zero Action Plan and the Speed Management Action Plan adopted by the Hillsborough Transportation Planning Organization, the Safe Access to Parks study developed a pilot process to improve park access with a focus on walking and bicycling safety. A process to identify and implement transportation safety improvements and speed management around parks in urban, suburban, and rural settings was created. Parks were selected based on a data driven approach that took equity and transportation safety factors into account. Each park selected broadly represented the variety in more than 440 parks located throughout Hillsborough County. An existing conditions assessment included field reviews that looked at transportation barriers and challenges within the vicinity of each park. Vehicle travel speed, transit stops, sidewalk density, crash locations, and other data were also considered. Significant media coverage and public engagement including surveys, a customized online mapping tool to track specific problem areas, stakeholder group meetings held virtually, and even in-person ‘Trick or Treat’ engagement sessions at the parks were among the tools used to boost public input from communities that may not have been previously engaged in planning. A toolbox of safety countermeasures resulted from the study with strategies for walking and bicycle facilities, intersection and roadway design, traffic signals, signage, and striping. Options for low-cost and quick-build treatments were also identified, making it easier for the City of Tampa, Hillsborough County, and the Florida Department of Transportation to implement near- and long-term transportation improvements. Finally, the process to replicate the study was carefully documented, so others will have the tools to conduct similar studies at other facilities throughout the region. The judges could see a wide and clear path towards implementing improvements to increase safe access to parks through this study. They loved how it was tailored to different type of parks, especially promoting safety in communities with the greatest need. They loved the creative public engagement and detailed study to address paramount concerns to make our community a safer place to walk, bike, and play! |
| The Nonprofit Needs List |
| Investment Category |
| Hillsborough County Board of County CommissionersHillsborough County Parks and RecreationHillsborough County Affordable Housing |
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| Founded in 1990, the Community Foundation Tampa Bay connects donors, nonprofits, community and business leaders, professional advisors, volunteers, and residents to make the maximum positive impact in the Tampa Bay region. Dedicated to making giving easy and meaningful for donors as a way to strengthen nonprofit organizations and build a better, more vibrant community, they have awarded more than $354 million in grants to nonprofits. In March 2020, the world was literally shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic. Society’s most vulnerable had fewer options than ever as they struggled to survive. Nonprofit organizations were finding it very difficult to address the seemingly unsurmountable needs. The Community Foundation Tampa Bay worked harder than ever before to find a solution. A unique idea emerged and was fully developed into a working model. The Nonprofit Needs List was designed to systematically catalog needs relayed by community nonprofits. This was not a competitive grant process, rather a new way to share specific needs among established fundholders and other community philanthropists. A Fundholder Match Program and the Tampa Bay Rapid Response Fund were established. During the deployment of the Nonprofit Needs List, more than 450 grants were distributed to over 270 Nonprofits totaling more than $4.5 million from donors and partners to fund those needs. The average award was almost $10,000. Over 765,000 local residents were provided services including over 620,000 meals; almost 50,000 people received access to arts and culture; over 29,000 received personal protection equipment; over 28,000 received physical or mental health services; and almost 24,000 received education or training. Another 14,500 local residents received domestic violence counseling, career counseling, personal financial assistance, transportation services, and operational support. In addition, over 2,000 animals received support from the Nonprofit Needs List grants. The judges were extremely impressed with this heartwarming public engagement and investment program, and how the Community Foundation Tampa Bay mobilized to move mountains to expedite a way to fill people’s urgent needs. Exceeding all expectations during an unprecedented time, the judges were thrilled to learn that a permanent Critical Needs List evolved from the Nonprofit Needs List, allowing for continued dynamic and transparent grant making dedicated to helping people, places, and programs throughout the Tampa Bay region! |
| Uptown Sky |
| Housing Category |
| University Area CDCBlue Sky CommunitiesFlorida Housing Finance CorporationHillsborough County BOCC |
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| For more than a decade, the University Area Community Development Corporation has worked to revitalize the University Area Community through redevelopment and rehabilitation as well as services that support permanent community sustainability and build the collective efficacy of the neighborhood. This area has been plagued with high crime, poverty, and a lack of basic resources for decades. To tackle this, organizations and partners have been woven together so those who believe in hard work and self-reliance can achieve remarkable heights. In partnership with Blue Sky Communities, the Uptown Sky development at the intersection of 12th Street and Fletcher Avenue will be a four-story, 61-unit, apartment complex, consisting of two and three bedroom floor plans with a total of 65,000 leasable square feet. With a planned opening of February 2023, Uptown Sky’s amenities will include a pool, a playground, a computer room and business center. But here’s where things get even better, Uptown Sky will also have classroom space and offices for the UACDC embedded in the residential community. These affordable apartment homes will aid low-income families by improving the quality of their homes, reducing their cost burden, and increasing their access to transit and other services. Eighteen units are dedicated to families at 50% Area Median Income. Thirty are at 60% AMI, and 13 units are reserved for 70% AMI. The project will maintain its affordability for a period of no less than 30 years. The jury was delighted to see truly affordable housing that does not look like it is affordable. They loved the outreach to 400 area residents seeking input on their needs. With a nod to an innovative partnership and inclusion of a supportive hub within the residential development, the judges were ready to sign a lease for building a community dedicated to creating opportunities for everyone! |
| Judges Choice Award |
| King High School Memorial Cemetery |
| Historic Category |
| Jerel McCants ArchitectureAustin Structural GroupC2E Solutions |
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| Older Tampa residents recalled a cemetery being in the location of what is now King High School’s gymnasium and agriculture area on campus. Hillsborough County Public Schools learned of this and wanted to pay respect and honor the nearly 150 graves belonging mostly to Black men, women, and children rediscovered under the school in late 2019. Records show almost 270 people were buried at the former Ridgewood Cemetery pauper’s burial ground at the time it was deeded to the School District in the late 1950s. Jerel McCants took the District’s request to find a way to honor and create awareness about this former cemetery to heart. “Once burial grounds are disturbed that kind of limits that trans-configuration from earthly or physical realm to the spiritual realm,” he said. “So, that’s what I was trying to do. Restore the connection.” And that, he has done. His inspirational design features a diamond-shaped reflecting pool surrounding a simple structure with a lot of deep meaning as the focal point of the one-acre site. The pond is a place for the students and public to visit and meditate within this once-again sacred space acknowledging those originally buried here. At the center of the pond is a pedestal of polished stacked stones holding up two wing-like pieces of aluminum covered in oxidized bronze. The wings represent both the wings of a dove – a symbol for peace and the soul’s release from earth – as well as hands releasing the dove. They also symbolize hands held in prayer. The judges were deeply touched by this design and gave it a rarely used Judges Choice Award for this artistic, thoughtful, and respectful, historic marker for our community. |
| Awards of Excellence |
| German American Club Adaptive Reuse |
| Redevelopment Category |
| Alliant PartnersMetro Inclusive Health & CAN Community HealthAiC ArchitectureKreher Barna Design Studio |
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| Constructed in 1908, the German American Club was once a symbol of discrimination. Today, it is a symbol of inclusion and hope. The renovation and addition to the historic 16,400 square foot building in Ybor City now serves as the Tampa headquarters for Metro Inclusive Health and CAN Community Health. These nonprofits provide full-service healthcare with a focus on HIV, the LGBTQ community, and the under-insured and uninsured. The ground floor that once housed the building’s fitness center and indoor pool now services the community with offices, therapy rooms, and meeting spaces. Double-glazed panes maintain the open feeling while providing both sound and visual privacy. The two-story grand theater space is now a multipurpose hall that acts as a training and conference center as well as a venue that can be rented for community fundraisers. A new 15,000 square foot three-story addition preserves the original building’s form, envelope, and massing that differentiate from the historic structure while using compatible materials, lines, details, scale, and proportion. A glass connector provides a clear distinction between the old and new and minimizes the physical impact to the historic building caused by the construction. The original structure used precast concrete module block that, at the time of the building’s completion, was an uncommon construction method for the Ybor City Historic District. For the new addition, the exterior now clad in a brick veneer mixed with white cast stone banding and water table complements the original building and the neighborhood. The judges loved this adaptive reuse not only for promoting historic preservation, but also for effectively and creatively providing space for nonprofit organizations to provide vital care to those in need in our city. |
| Mango Park & Recreation Center |
| Entertainment & Environmental Categories |
| Hillsborough County Board of County CommissionersHillsborough County Parks & Recreation Department |
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| The definition of restoration and rejuvenation, this park was originally built on a county landfill. The park became home to the East Bay Little League established in 1971 with over 700 participants. When the former landfill site began to settle in the late 1990s, the Little League complex was moved across the street and the site was converted into a five-acre dog park. In 2020, the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners approved a $1.5 million renovation of the park’s amenities to enhance the customer experience. At the heart of the renovation was the concept of creating an environment where everyone who comes to the park is on equal ground. Game on. Now, there is a newly installed 8,000 square foot accessible playground and renovated dog parks. There are two new shelters, new seating areas, four-square and chalk art areas, new basketball courts, and new landscaping, shade structures, and rest rooms. It even features a 51,000 square foot drone racing park complete with metal obstacles, start and finish gates, and a repair zone. Used for both tournaments and recreation, Mango Park boasts one of only two specialized drone parks in the state of Florida. The County planted its’ first fruit orchard here, designed in cooperation with the University of Florida’s IFAS program. Kids enrolled in the County’s Parks & Recreation after-school program enjoy healthy eating with fresh native Florida fruit they learn about and help grow. It was no surprise to the judges that attendance at the Mango Park & Recreation Center has increased exponentially… by more than 300% in the past year! They applauded Hillsborough County for creating a special place where individuals of all abilities and backgrounds in our community can relax, congregate, and recreate. |
| San Carlos Pumping Station Rehabilitation |
| Environmental, Investment & Participation Categories |
| City of Tampa, FLGarney ConstructionHazen and Sawyer |
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