The Greening Awards aim to showcase greening efforts by organizations and companies that help beautify the downtown area through enhancing our urban landscape. This year’s first-time award winners [full list below] in this year’s categories are the 1010 Currie Mural by Bianca Pettis & Erin Sayer (which won two awards: Best Public Art and Best Public Realm Improvement), Best Small Activated Space (co-winners 100 Washington Square and North Loop Parklet), Best Large Green Space (Mill Ruins Park), Best Streetscape Green Infrastructure (Millwright) and Best Entryway Greening (Haskell’s).

Loring Greenway won a Greening Award for a record eighth straight year—tying with Mill Ruins Park for Best Large Green Space. The Local won its sixth Greening Award (Best Façade Greening), Brit’s Pub won its fifth (Best Outdoor Café), Loring Park won its third straight Best Neighborhood award, and The Commons won a Greening Award (Best Large Activated Space) for the second straight year since opening in 2016.

“We’re delighted to see five new winners joining our past award recipients, a sign that enhanced greening continues to be a prominent focus of downtown businesses, neighborhoods and organizations,” Mpls Downtown Improvement District President & CEO Steve Cramer said. “We thank everyone who helps create a more vibrant experience through adding to downtown’s beauty. Congratulations to this year’s winners on exceptional contributions to our city’s core.”

Winners will receive a commemorative Greening Award created by Wood from the Hood, a Minneapolis-based company that reclaims discarded trees from urban neighborhoods and creates high-quality wood products. Each award will display the year the award was issued.

The Mpls DID accepted public nominations for green spaces throughout August, and finalists were announced on August 24. Voting for finalists remained open through September 21.

The finalists, nominated by the public, were selected by members of the Mpls DID staff based on criteria including overall year-over-year enhancements as well as continued excellence in adding vibrancy to the public realm.

This year’s results include the following winners:

Small Activated Space

• 100 Washington Square* - 36.70%
• North Loop Parklet* - 36.70%
• Gethsemane Episcopal Church – 26.60%

Small Green Space

• 20 Washington Square – 45.29%
• Target Corp – South Entry – 39.97%
• American Academy of Neurology– 14.24%

Large Activated Space

• The Commons – 63.17%
• Hennepin County Government Center North & South Plazas – 21.57%
• Target Field Station – 15.25%

Large Green Space

• Loring Greenway – 33.65%
• Mill Ruins Park* - 33.65%
• Triangle Park – 17.06%
• Cancer Survivors Park – 15.65%

Façade Greening

• The Local – 55.48%
• JB Hudson Jewelers – 24.09%
• Capella Tower* - 20.49%

Public Art

• 1010 Currie Mural by Bianca Pettis and Erin Sayer* - 35.77%
• Orbicles by MINN_LAB* - 27.97%
• Hahn/Cock by Katharina Fritsch* - 22.93%
• Inside Out Project* - 13.33%

Outdoor Café

• Brit’s Pub – 38.01%
• Monte Carlo* - 27.41%
• McKinney Roe* - 20.55%
• HopCat* - 14.03%

Streetscape Greening

• Minneapolis Convention Center – 36.89%
• Maverick Apartments* - 27.55%
• Target Commons – 25.21%
• Rock Island Lofts – 10.35%

Streetscape Green Infrastructure

• Millwright* - 40.07%
• Walker Art Center* - 31.79%
• Hennepin & Lyndale Renovation* - 14.57%
• Machine Shop* - 13.58%

Entryway Greening

• Haskell’s* - 48.73%
• City Hall – 24.53%
• Textile Building* - 13.71%
• Zenith Condos* - 13.03%

Public Realm Improvement

• 1010 Currie Mural by Bianca Pettis & Erin Sayer* - 20.44%
• Walker Art Center Grounds Renovation* - 19.43%
• Millwright Building Streetscape* - 14.36%
• Government Center North Plaza Fountain Restoration* - 9.80%
• 100 Washington Square Renovation* - 8.61%
• Hennepin/Lyndale Renovation* - 7.09%
• HopCat Outdoor Café* - 5.41%
• Orbicles by MINN_LAB* - 4.22%
• Hahn/Cock by Katharina Fritsch* 3.38%
• Maverick Apartments Streetscape* - 2.70%
• McKinney Roe Outdoor Café* - 2.70%
• Inside Out Park* - 1.86%

Best Neighborhood

Loring Park – 45.45%
Downtown East – 26.78%
Elliot Park – 12.07%
Downtown West – 8.76%
North Loop – 6.94%

*-New Nominee in this category

For more information, visit www.mplsdid.com/greeningawards or log onto Facebook, Twitter or Instagram searching @MinneapolisDID.

About the Mpls Downtown Improvement District:

Founded in early 2009, after more than five years of formative planning and advocacy by the downtown business community, the Mpls DID delivers higher levels of service to make downtown cleaner, greener, safer and more vibrant throughout a 120-block area, as is the case with most Business Improvement Districts. For more information, visit www.mplsdid.com.