News Article

November 12, 2014 [DETROIT] - The Detroit RiverFront Conservancy was recognized on a global scale by The Waterfront Center in Washington, D.C. during the 2014 Excellence on the Waterfront Awards last week, receiving a Project Honor Award for the Detroit RiverWalk. 

“The Detroit RiverFront Conservancy is pleased to receive this very prestigious award,” said Mark Wallace, president and CEO of the Conservancy.  “It is a tremendous honor for the RiverWalk to be recognized and for the world to acknowledge the transformation of the Detroit riverfront.” 

The Detroit RiverWalk joins projects from as far away as Australia, New Zealand and Singapore in receiving awards this year.  Stateside, major projects in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia received awards as well.  The Excellence on the Waterfront Awards were initiated in 1987 to recognize high quality design and development work in waterfront-related projects.  Entries are accepted from around the world for plans, built projects and student submissions.  The Center also recognizes citizen efforts through the Clearwater Award.

Award winners were selected by an interdisciplinary jury of professional planners, designers, city officials and community, business and development leaders.  Project criteria for honors includes: sensitivity of the design to water; quality and harmony of design; civic contribution; environmental values; enrichment of the community and degree of difficulty.

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The Waterfront Center is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit, public interest educational organization that assists waterfront communities in making the wisest long-term use of waterfront resources.  The Center uses workshops, consultations, conferences, awards, programs and publications to help communities understand how waterfront resources can contribute to economic, social, recreational and aesthetic vitality.

The Detroit RiverFront Conservancy is a non-profit organization founded in 2003 with the mission to develop public access to Detroit’s riverfront and serve as an anchor for economic development.  As the permanent stewards of the RiverWalk and the Dequindre Cut, the Conservancy is responsible for raising the funds needed for construction, operation, maintenance, security and programming of the public spaces located along the riverfront.  The Conservancy’s ultimate vision is to develop five-and-a-half miles of riverfront from the Ambassador Bridge on the west to Gabriel Richard Park, just east of the MacArthur Bridge to Belle Isle.  The first phase of the project, three miles along the east riverfront, is now 80 percent complete and spans from Joe Louis Arena to Gabriel Richard Park.  The first phase of the west riverfront project, a 20-acre parcel located on West Jefferson that features a wider RiverWalk and lush green space, opened in July.    Visit www.detroitriverfront.org for more information.

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