The HarborWalk has won yet another prestigious national award! I wanted to share Sarah Garcia’s letter that she wrote to all the HarborWalk team members. More about the award, and why it is so very important, will be forthcoming from Catherine Ryan. I understand that Sarah did an incredible job leading the project. Congratulations Mayor Kirk, Sarah, and the HaborWalk Team!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sarah Garcia writes ~ 

Dear Gloucester HarborWalk Team,

I want to let you know that we were presented with a 2013 Excellence on the Waterfront award last weekend at the annual meeting of the Waterfront Center in Davenport, Iowa.  (Lest we forget the Mississippi River flows through the Midwest!)  The Waterfront Center, based in Washington DC, has featured projects in its annual awards for over 30 years.  The Waterfront Center has not yet put out a press release on the awards, but I wanted you all to know, and we’ll do a press release if none is forthcoming!

I attach the beautiful presentation that Cambridge 7 Associates put together to submit for this award.  It was a juried competition, and the HarborWalk was in the good company of other winners such as Brooklyn Bridge Park and some very large scale developments in California, New Zealand and Angola.

Several of the jurors were at the awards event, and said what impressed them about the HarborWalk was its authenticity in reflecting the community and respecting its working waterfront.  That authenticity came from the enthusiasm and generous collaboration of all of you.

This award is the fourth (!) for the HarborWalk.  The others have been the following:

• The Massachusetts Municipal Association awarded the Gloucester HarborWalk with the Kenneth E. Pickard Municipal Innovation Award for being a unique and creative project, increasing the effectiveness of local government.
• WalkBoston awarded the Gloucester HarborWalk with The Golden Shoe Award:  “City of Gloucester creatively getting Gloucester Walking” awarded 3.20.13. Every year WalkBoston recognizes communities that are making “major strides” to improve conditions for walking which is a wonderful endorsement of the great work around the HarborWalk, city planning, community development.
• The American Association of Museums recognizes outstanding achievement in museum media, as part of its national awards recognitions.  Not only was the HarborWalk nominated, but it won the “gold” in its category for its Walking Cinema, in competition with museums like the National Museum of American History (which took the bronze), and the Whitney and MoMa last year winning in other categories.

A primary goal of the HarborWalk was to reunite the City’s working waterfront with its historical Main Street and cultural institutions to create destination in the downtown/harbor area.  Its success in bringing together the partnerships and elements for this unity is made visible by the May 2013 designation from the MA Cultural Council for The City of Gloucester Harbortown Cultural District.

We have the Seaport Advisory Council to thank for sharing in our community’s vision, and making it all possible, and the MA Cultural Council and our Downtown Cultural Committee for carrying that vision on into the future.

Best regards,

Sarah Garcia, ACIP

Harbor Planning Director

I4-C2 Before

I4-C2 After