Cornwall ON – The City of Cornwall was formally recognized at the Communities in Bloom Ontario Awards ceremony with a 5–Bloom rating.
The Trillium Bloom rating is the result of a comprehensive evaluation of a community’s attributes over eight criteria by two Communities in Bloom (CiB) judges. The 5–Bloom rating is the highest rating possible. This year, only 3 of 50 communities were awarded 5 Blooms. The award ceremonies were held in Sarnia on September 24th and 25th, 2010.
“Cornwall continues to shake up old perceptions about the City, this time with regards to our cityscape and how beautiful our City has become,” said Mayor Bob Kilger. “This award recognizes all of the hard work that the City, our business leaders and individual citizens have undertaken to balance urban living and our natural environment.”
This year marks the second time that Cornwall has participated in the competition. Last year, in its first try, the City received a 4–bloom rating. A committee of volunteers from the community, along with City staff, organized the Cornwall entry.
“A positive result last year, along with feedback from the CiB judges, gave the Committee a goal to shoot for this year”, said Committee Chair Gaye Adams of the Downtown Cornwall BIA. “If we continue to score five blooms over the next two years we will qualify for the National competition.”
2010 Judging
The City hosted two CiB judges, Marie Huxter and Charlie Dobbin, during July of this year. The judges examined a number of areas in the City including Guindon Park, Lamoureux Park, Downtown Cornwall, and the new St. Lawrence Power Development Visitor Centre.
The final evaluation form added up to 19 pages of detailed commentary on several different facets of Cornwall’s cityscape. Overall, the City scored 833 points out of a total of 1000 points.
The judges mixed praise with suggestions for the future. A few sample comments include:
“Congratulations to those involved in providing the graffiti wall in Optimist Park. An excellent
example of teamwork.”
“We were pleased to see the work done by the Heart of the City Community Improvement Plan
to help revitalize and restore over 90 properties in the Downtown and Le Village.”
“We noticed many beautifully landscaped residential properties. It is obvious Cornwall’s
residents are proud of their properties and their city.”
“Things are happening in Cornwall!”
About Communities in Bloom
Communities in Bloom is a national program committed to fostering civic pride, environmental responsibility and beautification through community participation and the challenge of friendly competition. The program strives to improve the tidiness, appearance and visual appeal of Canada’s neighbourhoods, parks, open spaces and streets through the imaginative use of flowers, plants and trees. A focus on environmental awareness and preservation of heritage and culture is also an integral part of the program.
Kudos to the team and Cornwall for garnering this honour for our city! What do you think Cornwall? You can post your comments below.
I know many people made contributions to this project. Nice to see business pull together with the community to make this happen. Job WELL DONE!