Town of Fort Mill Selected For International Environmental Award Competition
November 22, 1999

The Town of Fort Mill has recently been selected to compete for a prestigious international environmental excellence award - "Nations In Bloom."

"In the first level of judging, there were approximately 50 towns from around the world in the population category of 10,000 or under. Of those 50 initial submissions, Fort Mill was one of eight towns chosen for final consideration," said Mark Madden, director of the Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill. "It is quite an honor to move to the final round of consideration. We are the only town of our size from the U.S. to make the finals."

The Nations In Bloom Awards competition is conducted through the International Federation of Parks and Recreation Administration, with sponsorship by a different nation each year. Awards presented during 2000 are being sponsored by major corporations in Japan, with final judging scheduled for February 2000 in Hamamatsu, Japan.

"We are currently organizing an ad hoc committee to make our final presentation in Japan," Madden said. "We can create a 10 minute video and use 20 slides to tell our story in an allotted time of 35 minutes. Then, an international panel of environmental experts leads a question and answer period for 30 minutes."

According to Madden, the Nations In Bloom award includes five criteria - environmental practices, heritage management, enhancement of landscape, community involvement and planning for the future.

He said many factors helped Fort Mill qualify for the final competition, including the 2,300-acre Greenway, the traditional Village of Baxter neighborhood and the Clear Springs plan, which balances residential and commercial uses with extensive green spaces in a planned 4,000-acre community.

"Our Greenway is a very important part of our story, as is Baxter and the Clear Springs plan," Madden said. "Clear Springs is certainly one of the best models in the region of planning for the future."

Madden said that Fort Mills' presentation to the international judging committee highlighted more than 20 different features of the community, including the school district, the Catawba River corridor plan and the town's historic preservation plan. The ways in which these elements work together apparently was a key deciding factor.

"From a broader perspective, the programs we have in place in Fort Mill are visionary, in some cases unique and in all cases integrated with each other," he said.

"Perhaps the most important factor is the way in which developers, preservationists and many others are helping to create plans that are mutually beneficial," Madden said. "We have a special situation in Fort Mill that you won't find in many other places."