Santa Fe Plaza wins top honors in Texas downtown awards

TEMPLE, TEXAS (Sept. 17, 2020) - The City of Temple’s Santa Fe Plaza and Santa Fe Market Trail has been recognized by the Texas Downtown Association as one of the best improvement projects in Texas. Five other Temple-based projects, businesses and non-profit agencies were also named as finalists in various categories.

The Santa Fe Plaza and Santa Fe Market Trail was named the “Best Public Improvement” in a city with a population of more than 50,000.

“The Santa Fe project was a huge milestone in the development and revitalization of the landscape of Downtown Temple,” Temple City Manager Brynn Myers said. “It has brought jobs, increased foot traffic and really been a beautiful addition to our city that our residents and visitors just love.”

Other Temple-based finalists include:

  • Best New Construction:    Temple Business Center Building
  • Best Downtown Business: The Hub
  • Best Downtown Business: H5B3, LLC
  • Best Downtown Partner:  Academie Musique of Central Texas
  • Best Digital Promotion:     Virtual First Friday

“We are so proud of our downtown landscape,” Myers said. “From the businesses to the projects and events, Temple has a great deal to be proud of and having five finalists showcased with some of the best projects from around the state shows that. Congratulations to each of them.”

The awards recognize outstanding projects, places and people that contribute to downtowns across the state. TDA was established in 1985 to connect and serve communities that are committed to downtown vitality.  The organization is an independent, statewide nonprofit that represents cities and towns of all sizes, economic development corporations, chambers of commerce, local associations, small businesses, and individuals.

One hundred and four entries were submitted in 11 categories from communities across the state. Due to the number of entries, the entries were divided up into two categories – Design and Achievement – with separate judging panels for each group. 

Winners will be announced virtually, on the TDA Facebook page, in a series of Award Announcement Videos as follows:

  • Design Awards: Tuesday, October 27th at noon
  • Achievement Awards: Wednesday, October 28th at noon
  • People Specialty (Individual Awards): October 29th at noon

The award announcements will lead to the kick-off of the virtual 2020 Texas Downtown Conference from November 9-12. For more information about the President’s Awards, Conference, or other programs of the Texas Downtown Association, please visit www.texasdowntown.org.