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Hot Springs, AR
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project activated a space along Malvern Avenue, allowing visitors to enjoy a new mural paying tribute to cultural history. To showcase the mural, the City added a new sidewalk, greenery, iron sculptures and a music-themed bench nearby. The work was among the first reinvestments in an area that was known from the 1930s to 1960s as Black Broadway -- home to entertainment venues which hosted performances by legendary musicians, including Count Basie, Duke Ellington and B.B. King. Since its completion, the space -- which the City named Henry Glover Place -- has helped spark further revitalization. The City undertook four other neighborhood improvement projects nearby, including upgrades to a parking lot, new landscaping and building restorations. The City plans to make additional streetscape improvements in the future.
Mount Airy, NC
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This city will add picnic tables, benches, bike racks, landscaping and public art to the Market Street neighborhood. The improvements aim to create a more welcoming and accessible environment for residents and the many tourists who visit Mount Airy.
South Boston, VA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project will activate a dilapidated alley connecting South Boston's Main Street to the local farmers market. Improvements include new benches and landscaping, as well as a public art installation depicting the town's skyline.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Woodstock, IL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Trails
Description: This project built a wide pathway of crushed limestone through the deep woods in Emricson Park. To give people a place to rest and observe nature, the city also created seating areas along the pathway.
Oconomowoc, WI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This alley activation project turned a stark passageway between the lakefront and downtown retail into a livelier pedestrian link. Project organizers added a painted design on the pavement and constructed trellises to provide shade. The City chose not to close the alleyway during the transformation work. Instead, passersby were invited to lend a hand to the rejuvenation process by painting a faux floor tile (or several). This also allowed visitors to ask questions about the transformation happening before their eyes. The project sparked conversations about how to activate the other downtown alleys, each with its own unique look and distinctive experience. And when the City reconstructed its boardwalk, it borrowed the trellis design used in the alleyway. People now change their routes to experience the walkway, city planner Kristi Weber said. It gets folks to lift their heads up, look around and enjoy some untraditional and unexpected art.
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