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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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Baltimore, MD
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project helped activate an alleyway by creating an Outdoor Community Library and installed an artistic metal gate to secure it. The Urban Oasis uses the space to host story times with older adults reading to local students.
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.
Grand Forks, ND
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: As part of its mission to connect the community, the Grand Forks Public Library created an intergenerational music playground on its grounds. A group of older adult volunteers helped select all-weather musical instruments and installed them on a concrete slab. Since the installation, the project has brought adults and children together, demonstrating the value of activating underused public spaces. Additionally, the playground has strengthened the library's relationship with a nearby senior housing community. Project organizers say the musical instruments offer psychological and health benefits for older adults, such as reduced stress, improved mood and greater cognitive skills.
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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