For the first time in its history, Lawrence is applying for the All-America City Award. The City Commission has been planning in applying to the award for the last couple of years. City officials are finalizing minor details before turning in the application, which is due on March 22.
The National Civic League created the All-America City Award in 1949. Ten communities receive it every year, and it is the most prestigious civic award a city can get.
“It honors community collaboration and problem solving. It especially looks for collaboration between public, private and nonprofit sectors,” said Jonathan Douglass, management analyst for the city of Lawrence. He is one of the people responsible for completing the application.
The application includes several parts, including population data, city infrastructure and history, and a detailed section on collaborative community projects.
The winners do not receive any monetary prize, but Lawrence could reap other benefits if it wins the award.
“Communities tend to market themselves having won the award,” said Mike McGrath, senior editor for the National Civic League publications. “There is some thought that this helps economic development, tourism and things like that.”
City officials expect the award to benefit the economy, and, if Lawrence wins it, plan to market it in every way possible.
“It would bring positive attention to the community as a whole,” Douglass said. “It can be advertised on the chamber of commerce Web site, our city website, and on welcome signs.”
Local businesses are also excited about the potential economic benefits that the award would bring.
“An award like that gets picked up by different news organizations,” said Rick Marquez, director for Downtown Lawrence Incorporated, an association created to promote the interests of downtown businesses. “It peaks the interest of those outside of the community and makes them plan a little trip here. Anything like that obviously is something good.”
Filling up the application has taken a considerate amount of time and effort. The application is 17 pages long, and asks for detailed examples of how the community has fostered and encouraged collaboration amongst its different segments.
“It took quite a bit of work. We had four different city staff people working on different sections,” Douglass said.
The most detailed section in the application asked the city to highlight collaborative community projects. The city met with and interviewed dozens of people to complete it. One of the projects highlighted was the strengthening of downtown Lawrence.
The project is an ongoing effort to enhance downtown so it can continue as an important economic center, and maintain its importance as a community resource and tourist destination. Changes include the expansion of the farmers’ market, and construction of a new arts center and parking garages.
“Collaboration has been the key success in the downtown enhancement,” said David Corliss, city manager. “Because there are dozens of businesses and property owners, nothing happens without cooperation among many different partners.”
Winning the All-America City award would recognize the people responsible for the efforts of improving downtown and reward their work.
“The All-America City award would bring greater credit to our downtown,” Corliss said.
Although completing the application has been hard work, it already brought some benefits, including an increase in the visibility of community cooperation.
“It allowed people to see what others in the community were doing, and how it fit into our greater community vision,” Douglass said.
Since the year 2000, the average number of competitors has been 56 communities. Previous winners include Wichita, Kan.; Des Moines, Iowa; and Kansas City, Mo.
Carrollton, Mo., won the award in 2005 and, as a result, the city has seen some economic benefits.
“We have got new industry popping all over the place. It has rewarded in many ways economic development,” said Kathy McGinness, administrative assistant for the town of Carrollton.
Other benefits include the strengthening of community ties and an increased interest in civic responsibilities and actions.
“It makes you ooze with civic pride. It empowered the people more and it made them just so proud of their community,” McGinness said.
Winning communities tend to have several things in common, most importantly the ability for citizens, community members, business leaders and city government to come up with solution to problems.
“You don’t just have one sector of the community leading the effort,” McGrath said.
The members of the National Civic League will announce 30 finalists on April 16. They will meet in Anaheim, Calif., from June 7-9, where after individual presentations a panel of judges will select the 10 winners.
“It is a life changing thing for a community and the people in it,” said Sharon Metz, mayor of Carrollton. She may serve as a judge for this year’s competition.