American Structurepoint’s work in the planning field received two major awards at the recent 2016 Hoosier Planning Awards. The competition, sponsored by the American Planning Association – Indiana Chapter (APA-IN), recognizes programs and projects that demonstrate excellence in planning.

American Structurepoint received an award in the Outstanding Plan category for its work on the Columbia City Comprehensive Plan and in the Outstanding Communications Initiative category for the Wabash Strategic Revitalization Plan for America’s Best Communities program.

Columbia City plan

For the Columbia City project, American Structurepoint collaborated with city officials, various community organizations, a steering committee, and the public to gather input to develop a comprehensive plan entitled “Level Up.” The planning effort produced a highly visual, multi-point document that contains many recommendations for improving the quality of life and the long-term growth of Columbia City. The final plan identified 53 strategies in 12 different community areas — play, learn, support, act, live, experience, move, grow, work, serve, preserve, and share. It also identified 14 highest-priority projects based on recommendations from American Structurepoint and public input gathered during the one-year planning process. Another plan component featured multiple case studies highlighting successful projects launched in other Hoosier communities that Columbia City might choose to implement. The plan also identified next steps to make these developments a reality in Columbia City as well as a list of responsible parties who could help implement project and programming decisions in the community. Upon adoption in August 2015, Columbia City leaders have used the plan to determine budget items and to prioritize projects. The 204-page plan is available at this link.

Wabash plan

American Structurepoint collaborated with the City of Wabash, the Economic Development Group of Wabash County, Inc., Green Hat Productions, and a dedicated steering committee to create the Wabash Strategic Revitalization Plan for the America’s Best Communities competition. Together, with a clear vision and strategies, the team created an innovative communications program promoting the community’s participation in the America’s Best Communities national competition. The communications initiative combined the use of traditional media with social media and video to tell the present and future story of Wabash. To spark community interest and gain input, a project slogan, “Dream Big. Be Big,” appeared throughout Wabash on T-shirts, banners, window stickers, signage, and social media pages like Twitter, Facebook, and Vimeo. American Structurepoint also created a coffee table vision book to communicate the revitalization plan to better illustrate the community’s vision of the future. To see examples of the video components, visit this link. The entire revitalization plan is available here.