West Chester, PA – Pennsylvania Downtown Center (PDC) recently presented 12 awards during the organization’s annual statewide Townie Awards gala. The Townie Awards are a festive and venerable tradition designed to recognize the commonwealth’s core communities and individuals for creation and implementation of projects, programs and events that exemplify the goals of PDC’s community revitalization mission. Eligible communities consist of Pennsylvania Downtown Center’s nearly 200 member organizations, including Main Street and Elm Street programs, making the Townies a competitive award process each year.Pennsylvania Downtown Center’s executive director, Bill Fontana, said “Each year we look forward to the Townie Awards presentation for its ability to excite and inspire our members to continue their community revitalization efforts. Our member communities work tirelessly to improve their cities and towns, and we love having the opportunity to applaud them for their efforts.” The Townie Awards are a part of PDC’s annual statewide conference, which is held in a different commonwealth community each year in order to highlight the respective city or town’s accomplishments in community and neighborhood revitalization. This year’s conference, held in downtown West Chester, was attended by more than 200 individuals and included borough and municipal officials, experts in community planning and landscape architecture, and dozens of Main Street and Elm Street managers. Highlights of the conference included nationally-recognized speakers, over thirty educational sessions, mobile workshops showcasing the region’s sense of place as economic generators, arts district, historic structures and a progressive dinner at independent venues along West Chester’s Business Improvement District.Founded in 1987, the mission of Pennsylvania Downtown Center is to advance the sense of place, quality of life and economic vitality of Pennsylvania’s downtowns, traditional neighborhood business districts and nearby residential areas.The 12 Townie Award winners for 2018: ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCEOrganization DevelopmentBuilding a Better Boyertown – Vision and Action PlanCommunity PartnershipsOil City Main Street – Center Street Bridge Illumination PHYSICAL IMPROVEMENTS & DESIGNPublic Space ImprovementWest Reading Elm Street – Cherry Street Mural Corridor (small town)Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership – Envision Downtown Mobility and Public Realm Enhancements (big city) PROMOTIONS & MARKETING AWARDSSpecial or Neighborhood EventsHamilton District Main Street Program, Allentown – 10th Anniversary Blues, Brews & Barbecue Festival Retail PromotionsEaston Main Street Initiative – Spring into EastonANCHOR BUILDING AWARDQuakertown Alive! – The Free Press Building SAFE, CLEAN & GREEN AWARDSCleanlinessMainstreet Waynesboro – Doggie Waste Stations/Cleaner SidewalksCommunity GreeningWest Chester University and Borough of West Chester – Food Scraps Diversion & Composting Pilot VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAREaston Main Street Initiative, Ed Shaughnessy CHAIRMAN’S AWARD FOR YOUTH INVOLVMENTBuilding A Better Boyertown – Town Vision Video BOARD LEADERSHIP AWARDQuakertown Alive! – Jann Paulovitz
Pennsylvania Downtown Center Announces 2018 Townie Award Winners
