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Grand River Arts Council (2024) Print
2024 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Public space activation
└ Public space activation
A new, accessible parklet will create a gathering space outside the Palace Theater that is welcoming to older adult patrons and people with disabilities. Amenities -- including a new ramp and bench seating -- will allow the theater to host outdoor arts programming.
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Bondurant, IA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2024
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project will create a garden and trail featuring five works of art displayed along Lake Petocka's shoreline. The city will also construct a new kayak launch and install seating and lighting onsite.
Roundup, MT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: The large public space in the Roundup's downtown lacked accessible seating. As part of its historic preservation and economic development work, Roundup Community Partners added picnic tables and benches to the plaza. The new seating is designed to be accessible for visitors of all ages and abilities. The plaza sits on the town's Main Street and project organizers hope the seating helps incentivize residents and visitors to shop and eat downtown.
East St. Louis, IL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: As part of its efforts to boost public transit use and spart economic development around transit stations, Citizens for Modern Transit activated the Emerson Park light rail and bus station in East St. Louis. To choose a theme for the station and ensure the new amenities would meet the community's needs, project organizers held design workers and other community engagement events. They then installed new seating, shade structures and a sound system to pipe music into the space. A local artist collaborated with community members to create pavement art and a mural, which pay tribute to the area's musical history. Organizers say they hope the new space promotes creative play, cultivates community and encourages people to ride public transit.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Lemmon, SD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Staff at the Lemmon Public Library saw a need to reduce social isolation in town, particularly among older residents. To address this, they set out to improve the library's public gathering space. Project organizers created a new bakery cafe, purchasing folding tables with stacking chairs, an acrylic pastry cabinet, a cake cover and cupcake display, tablecloths and pump pots for coffee. Since the cafe's opening, the library has used new tables and chairs at hundreds of events and the space has accommodated pop-up shops. The opportunity to bake for the cafe led some residents to launch their own baking businesses and one retired baker was inspired to plan a workshop for women starting businesses. Sparked by the success of the cafe, library staff have since pursued other opportunities to expand community space, including providing library patrons with an outdoor area for reading and gathering.
Lemmon, SD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Engaging residents in vibrant public places
Description: The project will purchase a portable dance floor, which residents will be able to check out from the library for local events.
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