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 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Pam Kramer
January 19, 2010 218-727-7761
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Building Healthy Communities Award Winners
Duluth LISC held its annual awards luncheon on Tuesday, January 12, 2010. Over 180 attendees from local business leaders, city and elected officials to nonprofit and philanthropic groups including the At Home in Duluth collaborative members came together to celebrate recent achievements.
Mayor Don Ness joined Pam Kramer, Duluth LISC executive director to present a Building Healthy Communities Award to an outstanding project--the Redevelopment of Clyde Iron Works in the Lincoln Park neighborhood with the award to Alessandro Giuliani, Clyde Park, the Duluth Heritage Sports Center and the Boys & Girls Club-Dave Goldberg Family Branch. Alessandro Giuliani from Clyde Park, Dick Loraas from the Heritage Sports Center and Todd Johnson from the Boys and Girls Club accepted the award.
A Building Healthy Communities Award was also given to Bob Odman, Duluth Local Advisory Board Member for 12 years and chair of its Board’s Strengthening CDCs Committee. He has contributed more than 33 years to the Minnesota housing and community development arena, developing ideas and models that have made our state nationally recognized for innovative and effective housing programs.
“Congratulations to the Redevelopment of Clyde Iron Works and Bob Odman,” says Duluth LISC Executive Director Pam Kramer. “These two award winners exemplify what drives revitalization in our city. We believe in getting the right people together to problem-solve issues facing our neighborhoods like jobs, housing, crime, transportation initiatives and reducing poverty. We at LISC are proud to be seeking sustainable, long-term solutions together.”
About Building Healthy Communities Award Recipients...
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The Redevelopment of Clyde Iron Works in the Lincoln Park neighborhood: Clyde Park: The latest phase of the Clyde Park market place is set to complete this spring; one business, the Athletic Republic, a national athletic and sports training center is open and contributing to the local economy, as well as to the health of young athletes. Additional retail and job-producing businesses include the Clyde Park restaurant, brewery and entertainment venue, a coffee shop, and seasonal produce market. Alex Giuliani, the funder developer, acquired the site in 2003 with a vision to preserve and adaptively reuse the site to benefit the community. He began planning, seeking and investing capital to resolve environmental issues and redevelop the site. He donated a portion of this 10-acre, Brownfields site to the nonprofit Duluth Heritage Sports Center for development of this exciting new community resource.
- Duluth Heritage Sports Center: After an extensive, all volunteer-driven, very successful fundraising effort, the Heritage Sports Center opened with year-round 1,200-seat hockey arena as Phase I. Phase II completed in 2009 includes a multi-use sports pavilion that converts from ice rink to turf, thanks to LISC/NFL, a youth grassroots program for year-round use.
- Boys & Girls Club-Dave Goldberg Family Branch: As an important partner, this 12,000- square foot facility provides a tutoring center, recreational space, arts and crafts, a safe, healthy environment for local boys and girls.
- Bob Odman, newly retired Assistant Commissioner overseeing the Multifamily Programs at Minnesota Housing and founding member of the Interagency Stabilization Group, an impressive committee of philanthropic, public and nonprofit sector housing professionals working to preserve affordable housing in the Twin Cities. He also started and chaired the Greater Minnesota Preservation Work group that does similar work in Greater Minnesota. Rick Ball from Duluth HRA describes, “Bob has been absolutely instrumental in advancing the development of hundreds of units of high quality affordable housing in Duluth. He has been creative and helpful beyond any expectation and has always had the long-term goal of ensuring lasting and sustainable housing; he'll always be appreciated for his impact in Duluth."
About Duluth LISC:
One of 28 local LISC sites, Duluth LISC is a nonprofit organization that works closely with public and private community developers to improve and restore Duluth’s core neighborhoods: Central Hillside and East Hillside, Lincoln Park, Morgan Park and West Duluth. Its At Home in Duluth collaborative’s success led to Duluth’s designation as a Sustainable Community demonstration site As a Sustainable Community, Duluth LISC is expanding its efforts beyond its successful development of affordable housing to focus on revitalizing core neighborhoods by pursuing five fundamental goals: expanding investment in housing and other real estate; increasing family income and wealth; stimulating economic activity and connecting neighborhoods and residents to mainstream economy; improving access to quality education; and supporting healthy environments and lifestyles. |
