Landmark Columbus is one of three entities selected to host the prestigious Mayors’ Institute on City Design regional sessions this fall, to be presented in conjunction with Exhibit Columbus.
Columbus is only the second city in Indiana ever to host one of the regional sessions — the other being Indianapolis, said Richard McCoy, director of Landmark Columbus, which is organizing its second Exhibit Columbus installation exhibition in the city.
Landmark Columbus submitted a proposal last fall to be a host and was placed in the mix of the a competitive process in which three groups are chosen to host the regional sessions. The other two selected are the University of Oklahoma’s Institute for Quality Communities in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and the Van Alen Institute, a nonprofit in New York City, New York.
The Mayor’s Institute on City Design is a leadership initiative of the National Endowment of the Arts partnering with the U.S. Conference of Mayors that hopes to foster an understanding of and an appreciation for the role of design in creating vibrant, livable cities, and the importance of mayors in advocating good design, according to the institute.
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Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop was selected for an institute session in Charlotte, North Carolina, two years ago, and former Columbus Mayor Fred Armstrong also attended a session during his term in office, McCoy said.
Landmark Columbus officials gave a great deal of thought about applying to be a host, ultimately deciding that there was no better time to have the institute in Columbus than during Exhibit Columbus, so attendees could “see Columbus doing what it does best,” McCoy said.
The concept behind the institute is that Landmark Columbus will identify eight mayors from across the United States who govern cities with populations ranging from 30,000 to 150,000, and meet and interview them with an intention of inviting them to Columbus.
McCoy said they will be focusing on mayors of cities with a significant cultural heritage to preserve and protect, which is similar to Columbus, and those that may be considering a major riverfront engagement project, similar to what Columbus has proposed for its downtown area.
The eight mayors will come with their design questions and problems, and meet with a resource team created by Landmark Columbus who will listen and recommend possible solutions.
“The team is there to help them through the problem-solving process,” McCoy said. “These sessions are built for new mayors to help them understand the complexity of how cities work.”
McCoy said Landmark Columbus and Exhibit Columbus will also benefit from the selection process for the mayors, as the city’s architectural heritage and preservation efforts will be emphasized when inviting mayors to the local session — a way of extending Exhibit Columbus and the city even further into the nationwide conscious.
Lienhoop said when he attended the institute two years ago, he worked with a team of experts on Columbus’ downtown area, with the panel focusing on suggestions for the Second Street and Third Street corridors.
He described being in the session as having the opportunity to have experts take a closer look at your city and having them provide advice where you as a mayor should be focusing your time.
“At the institute, I learned that the Second Street and Third Street corridors were critically important to future development of the downtown,” he said. “And I learned as our city continues to grow, our downtown needs to grow, too — even though we are hemmed in by rivers to the north and west and the surrounding residential areas.”
As Columbus’ mayor, Lienhoop will be a “host mayor” for the institute, and another benefit to having the event here is that while he is not one of the eight participants, he can sit in on any or all the sessions if he wishes, McCoy said.
The eight mayors who will be selected are expected to be named sometime this summer, McCoy said.
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The mission of Landmark Columbus is to care for the design heritage of Columbus and inspire communities to invest in the traditions and values that use architecture, art and design to make cities stronger. To learn more, visit landmarkcolumbus.org.
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This year’s 2019 Exhibit Columbus exhibition is Aug. 24 through Dec. 1.
To learn more, visit exhibitcolumbus.org.
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The Mayors’ Institute on City Design has chosen Landmark Columbus as one of three hosts for regional institute sessions this year.
To learn more about the institute, visit micd.org.
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