A Lexington project again has made the list of Knight Cities Challenge winners, officials announced this morning.
“Plant & Play,” one of two projects submitted this year by Griffin VanMeter, will receive will $125,000. The funds will go to North Limestone Community Development Corp., which will use it to build a build a community garden and play area in 30-acre Castlewood Park on the city’s north side.
“These Knight Cities Challenge winners will help to create avenues for people to contribute to their community,” George Abbott, Knight Foundation director for community and national initiatives, said in a statement. “Their ideas propose to bring together diverse residents, ensure talent thrives, and connect people to place, giving them a stake in city-building.”
Lexington projects have made a strong showing in previous years of the Knight Cities Challenge. In the inaugural year, NoLi CDC was awarded the competition’s second largest grant — $550,000 — to create a food hub and small-business incubator in the former Greyhound bus terminal on North Limestone. That project is still in development. Last year’s top local grant winner was “Phoenix Forward” by the Lexington Public Library, which was awarded $150,200 to build programing incorporating the Central Library and the adjacent Phoenix Park.
This year’s competition gathered more than 4,500 proposals from nonprofit and government organizations, as well as design experts, urban planning groups and individual citizens, in 26 cities where the Knight Foundation is invested. The Lexington competitors represent six of 144 total finalists named in this year’s challenge.
VanMeter, a prominent north side entrepreneur and community activist, continues his streak of Knight Cities Challenge successes with another project tied to the NoLi CDC, which he helped found.
The Knight Cities Challenge is sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The program, in its third year, provides $5 million to community and economic development projects in cities where Knight once owned newspapers, including Lexington where it is the former owner of the Herald-Leader.