All America City award recognizes collaboration to meet challenges

LAKEWOOD – The National Civic League selected Lakewood as one of its 10 annual All-America City Awards, citing three major projects that required significant cooperation and collaboration between City Hall, community organizations and citizens.

The group also gave Lakewood its first Diversity Award for what a City Hall spokeswoman called “extraordinary and innovative success in advancing diversity and inclusiveness in the community.”

The All-America City Award is given 10 communities each year and is based on establishing to meet the challenges in their communities. The announcement of the 10 cities came late last week in Kansas City, Mo.

“This is a meaningful award for the City of Lakewood and all its partners in the community,” said Mayor Bob Murphy. “This award reflects the culture of Lakewood, which is that our residents, our businesses and our nonprofit organizations work together to find better ways to serve those who live and work in the city. That culture remains unchanged from the time when the city’s incorporation was founded on our eclectic neighborhoods coming together to create Lakewood.”

Twenty-three cities from densely populated cities such as Buffalo, N.Y. and Fort Worth, Texas to Taylor Landing, Texas, with a population of 228, sought the award. Each submitted a written application, then gave a presentation to an 11-member panel. To see Lakewood ’s presentation, visit: http://lakewoodco.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=398 on the City’s website.

Lakewood’s presentation focused on the West Colfax urban renewal project and the associated light rail project, the Greening Lakewood Business Partnership and the newly opened Boys and Girls Club at O’Connell Middle School.

The West Colfax project included nearly 1,000 residents, the city spokeswoman said, and involved a “multi-year and multi-pronged planning effort to renew West Colfax Avenue by providing new zoning that expands land-use opportunities” and planning for the coming West Corridor light-rail line and rail stations.

The Greening Lakewood Business Partnership is intended to prompt energy-efficient modifications to more than 1,500 older, existing office and commercial buildings in Lakewood.

The opening of the Jefferson County branch of the Boys and Girls Club at O’Connell resulted from a community effort to save the school, which was on a school district closure list

“I couldn’t be prouder of our community,” said City Manager Kathy Hodgson . “All of these projects are examples of the residents, businesses and nonprofits taking action and the City providing the help and support it could to accomplish what the community wanted.”

Aurora and Colorado Springs are the only other Colorado cities that have made the All-America City list. For more information on the award visit:www.AllAmericaCityAward.com.