50+ Lifestyles

Hilltop Campus Village Projects Nominated in Four Categories

Each year the Main Street Iowa program hosts an Annual Awards Ceremony for representatives of the 51 districts throughout the state. Awards are given for best projects in 19 different categories involving Leadership, Renovation and Revitalization.

This year the Hilltop Campus Village is pleased to have four nominations submitted for our district. They will be judged by Main Street Iowa staff and volunteers from among the Directors of the 51 districts.

The categories are determined by Main Street Iowa, and the nominations are put forward by our Board of Directors, based on input from our four Work Groups that deal with Organization, Design, Economic Restructuring and Promotion.

The nominees from the Hilltop Campus Village are:

• For best Creative In-fill: the 501 Brady apartments, done by Newbury Living. This in-fill replaces and old and under used parking lot with 24 affordable housing units, ranging from studios to multiple bedrooms. They are at the south end of 5th Street between Brady and Perry Streets. Adjacent to them will soon be the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Center.
• For best Total Interior/Exterior Renovation: The Brewed Book, at 1524 Harrison Street, by Tony and Trevor Fuhs. This project took a former saloon in need of a lot of deferred maintenance, and with the assistance of Downing Architects and Daxon Construction, re-built the north wall, straightened the building, shored up the foundation and converted it into a coffee shop that sells used books. The photo show what kind of condition it was in and the renovation demonstrates that there is always hope for a building’s restoration.

• Best Community Partnership: Davenport Electric Contract Company. Since the Hilltop Campus Village was founded in 2009, decorative and functional lighting have been installed using a combination of grants from the RDA and the SCRA, and funding from the Hilltop Business Association. Through this ongoing process, DECC has been a generous, patient and steadfast partner. Anyone travelling down Harrison Street or on 6th and 7th Streets between Brady and Perry can see the difference their work has made in making our district safer and more attractive.
• For Leadership: This nomination goes to the one person who, through their time, talent and energy, has advanced the continuing progress of the Hilltop Campus Village, moving it along its Strategic Plan. While we would like to share the name of this person with readers, we are opting to postpone news of the nomination until word of the winners comes to us.

We will be notified of the winners by late March, but the news will be embargoed until April 13, when the ceremony is held in Des Moines. Typically, this ceremony draws upwards of 500 people to it from all over the state. It is an opportunity not only to receive recognition for jobs well done, but also to see some of the amazing thing occurring in towns throughout both urban and rural parts of Iowa. There are many projects of all sizes in progress throughout the Hilltop Campus Village, some from the private sector, some from the public sector and some in a creative public-private partnership.

Win, lose or draw, we are looking forward to the ceremony and to having a good number of our volunteers to learn and enjoy.