Five outstanding projects and their creators and a dedicated advocate of promoting good planning and design through historic preservation, land conservation, and livable and walkable communities were honored Nov. 16 at a Montgomery Awards celebration in the John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove.

            This annual program, sponsored by the Montgomery County Planning Commission, recognizes the best in planning and design, advocacy, and environmental stewardship in Montgomery County and acknowledges the high-quality work and commitment of communities, organizations, and professionals.

            Local projects receiving 2022 awards were Whites Road Park Accessible Playground, a Lansdale-owned park located in Upper Gwynedd Township; The Willows at East Greenville in East Greenville Borough; and the Perkiomen Creek Dam Removals and Stream Restorations project in Upper Hanover Township, which received the 2022 Environmental Stewardship Award.

            In addition to these outstanding projects, Thomas J. Hylton received a 2022 Planning Advocate Award.

            This year marks the 55th anniversary of the Montgomery Awards program. Since its beginning in 1967, 233 awards have been presented throughout Montgomery County. Over the years, many types of projects have been awarded, including residential, office, and commercial developments; redevelopment projects; community revitalization efforts; transportation improvements; historic preservation projects; and open space and park planning. All of these winning projects are best practice examples of planning and design in the county.

                "These award-winning projects demonstrate how vision and collaboration result in creating exceptional places in Montgomery County. These projects are excellent models of transformation and sustainability. All of our winners touch on the goals and themes of Connected Communities, Sustainable Places, and Vibrant Economy contained in Montco 2040: A Shared Vision, Montgomery County's comprehensive plan," said Valerie A. Arkoosh, MD, MPH, Chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners.

            The Willows at East Greenville received a 2022 Montgomery Award for housing equity, adaptive reuse and historic preservation, and community collaboration. This exceptional project created 71 high-quality units of mixed-income rental housing in East Greenville Borough and transformed a deteriorated building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, into an appealing and affordable place to live.

            Under National Park Service guidelines, this project boasts exposed beams and walls, over 500 new windows specially designed to fit into existing openings, and refurbished fire doors. Recognizing a need for attainable housing, the borough and developers worked together to change the zoning to allow the residential use for this project, which provides much-needed housing for dozens of Montgomery County families and contributes to the vibrancy of East Greenville Borough.

            The Perkiomen Creek Dam Removals and Stream Restorations project received a 2022 Environmental Stewardship Award for the removal of obsolete dams, resulting stream restorations, and an extensive collaborative process with many community partners. This outstanding effort has successfully resulted in improved water quality, enhanced habitat biodiversity, and restored stream channels.

            At a total project cost of $275,000 and with support from community partners, this project, which involved the removal of two dams and subsequent stream restorations, will improve water quality for the region, aquatic habitat for these two branches of the Perkiomen Creek, and for Green Lane Park, an important recreation area.

            Visit www.montcopa.org/MontgomeryAwards for more on the 2022 winners, the awards program, and previous award recipients. For more information on the awards program contact Rita McKelvey at rmckelve@montcopa.org or (610) 278-3753.