Announcing the Winners of The Waterfront Center’s 2020 Excellence on the Waterfront Awards Program

Civitas to receive Honor Award for Minnesota lakefront

Denver, Colo. – August 17, 2020 – Denver-based urban design and landscape architecture firm Civitas has received a 2020 Excellence on the Waterfront Award from the nonprofit Waterfront Center for their planning and design of the Panoway on Wayzata Bay, in Wayzata, Minnesota.

Celebrating 39 years of helping communities make the wisest use of their waterfront resources, The Waterfront Center’s awards program began with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and recognizes “top urban waterfront work from around the world” each year.

“For the first time in 100 years, people will be able to walk the length of the downtown along a restored lakefront. The Lake Effect Vision Plan improves the lakefront ecosystem, preserves Wayzata’s history, provides greater public access to Lake Minnetonka and creates a framework for long-term lake-based educational opportunities for area schools,” says Scott Jordan, Civitas principal. The Plan also includes converting an existing parking lot into a 1-acre urban plaza, a 2,000 linear foot boardwalk, two expanded and enhanced waterfront parks, and important enhancements along Lake Street, Wayzata’s Main Street, emphasizing pedestrian spaces while introducing a dedicated bicycle trail connecting the 26.5-mile Dakota Trail into the heart of downtown Wayzata.

Mayor Ken Willcox added, “The City of Wayzata is greatly honored by the Waterfront Award given by the Waterfront Center in recognition of our Panoway on Wayzata Bay Project. The development is the result of 10 years of community engagement and planning. Its objective has been to both preserve and enhance the City’s prime location on magnificent Lake Minnetonka. When complete, the community will have total access to the beautiful waterfront. The project will provide a welcoming new gathering space that will bring people together for years to come.” For more, click here: https://www.wayzata.org/392/Panoway-on-Wayzata-Bay

“What an honor for the Lake Effect plan to develop Panoway be recognized by The Waterfront Center. This lakeside space will span seasons, generations, and day-tonight activities. It will join together a wide range of families, friends, and communities in a shared experience alongside one of Lake Minnetonka’s most treasured spaces,” says Andrew Mullin, Board Chair of the Wayzata Conservancy. More about the Conservancy can be found on their site: https://wayzataconservancy.org

In addition to the just-announced Honor Award for Excellence on the Waterfront, Panoway on Wayzata Bay previously received the 2019 Honor Award from ASLA Minnesota and a 2016 Merit Award from ASLA Colorado. Additional information about the Waterfront Center is available here. The awards ceremony and 33rd International Conference on Waterfront and Planning has been postponed.

About Civitas

Founded in 1984 with the core purpose of “creating healthier cities,” Denver-based Civitas, Inc., is an idea-based practice of urban designers, architects and landscape architects engaged in strategic planning for urban change and project design for built works. A consultancy and a design studio, Civitas advises on a wide range of strategies for re-imagining urban life and places, working in U.S. cities coast to coast and around the world.