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Lions and Rabbits Center for the Arts (2024) Print
2024 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Public space activation
└ Public space activation
This project will enlist volunteers of all ages to repaint faded sidewalk art, improving wayfinding and walkability. The playful design will visually connect the sidewalks to a nearby pedestrian plaza and green spaces.
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Akron, OH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: This project will create a vibrant plaza connecting Peoples Park with a mixed-use development. The space will promote active aging, mental stimulation, and social ties through dedicated programming for people age 50-plus.
Evanston, WY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: To bring vibrancy to Evanston's downtown, Evanston's Main Street program installed a unique, new seating option. This project added swing tables, which consist of a picnic table with bench seating on one side and swings on the other. Each table also accommodates people who use wheelchairs, who can roll up to either end of the table. To make the seating more comfortable, Main Street equipped each table with shade sails and solar lights. Additionally, the program engaged volunteers to paint pavement murals in the central business district's street crossings. The public art serves a dual purpose -- the murals add color to the streetscape and make crosswalks more noticeable to passing drivers. This calms traffic and increases pedestrian safety.
Pleasant Hill, MO
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Pleasant Hill will add benches and picnic tables to City Park and the Recreation Complex, providing rest stops along pathways and at activity hubs. This project aims to improve accessibility and comfort for older adults and individuals with mobility challenges, fostering community engagement and inclusion.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Grand Rapids, MI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2023
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: This project will create an accessible community greenhouse, designed by graduate architecture students in collaboration with low-income older adults, to extend the growing season at a community garden.
Grand Rapids, MI
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2020
Project Category: Trails
Description: To encourage residents to walk and socialize, the North End Wellness Coalition installed seven benches along the North Quarter Pathways, an urban walking trail in Grand Rapids' Creston neighborhood. The ADA-compliant seating is designed to accommodate residents with limited mobility. To promote walking on the Pathways' five trail loops, the Coalition also founded an Active Living Team, which is working to plan community events and programming. Project organizers say working with City staff to install the benches laid the ground for other improvements throughout Grand Rapids, including upgrades to local parks and new scooter and bike racks.
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