Citygarden wins ULI award

May 19, 2011

Citygarden wins ULI award

ST. LOUIS BUSINESS JOURNAL

Citygarden, the 2.9-acre, $30 million sculpture park in downtown St. Louis, won this year’s Urban Land Institute (ULI) Amanda Burden Urban Open Space Award.

ULI announced the award today at its spring meeting in Phoenix.

Citygarden, which opened in July 2009, was among five finalists selected in April for this year’s award, which comes with a $10,000 cash prize. The other four finalists were Director Park and Jamison Square, both in Portland, Ore.; and Discovery Green and the Raymond and Susan Brochstein Pavilion, both in Houston.

ULI said Citygarden has succeeded in "attracting a diverse public and creating an outdoor destination attraction and meeting place." It features 24 modern and contemporary sculptures.

Amanda Burden, New York City’s planning commissioner, endowed the award, which recognizes an outstanding example of a public open space that has enriched and revitalized its surrounding community. She and fellow award judge Mark Johnson, president of Civitas Inc. in Denver, visited Citygarden on May 6.

Citygarden spans between Eighth and 10th streets to the east and west, and Chestnut and Market streets from north to south, on land owned by the city of St. Louis. The city said it also covers the cost of water and electricity at the garden, which includes water features and lighted sculptures.

St. Louis-based Gateway Foundation is a nonprofit that supports cultural and artistic endeavors aimed at improving the quality of life in St. Louis. Gateway financed Citygarden and pays for maintenance and other expenses.

Landscape architecture firm Nelson Byrd Woltz, with offices in Charlottesville, Va., and New York City, designed the garden.

There is no admission charge at the garden, and it’s open to the public year round.

“This is a really wonderful honor for the City of St. Louis and for the Gateway Foundation,” Mayor Francis Slay said in a statement. “ULI chose Citygarden from among 48 applicants across the country. The decision will bring flattering and well-deserved national attention both to the garden and to the City of St. Louis.”

Rodney Crim, executive director of the St. Louis Development Corp., is accepting the award in Phoenix on behalf of the city and the Gateway Foundation.

Washington, D.C.-based Urban Land Institute is a member-supported nonprofit research and education organization.