The story below appears in today’s Charleston Gazette.

By Jim Balow
The Charleston Gazette

Haddad Riverfront Park, with its new canopies and Schoenbaum Stage, was among a dozen projects, groups and individuals honored Thursday by the Charleston Area Alliance at its fourth annual We Love Our Community Awards program.

Haddad Park won the Best Development Award, for a project that redefined itself by reusing a former building or site for a new sustainable use.

“We can all remember evenings watching the sunset, and afternoons baking in the heat at the park,” said Larry Groce, the director of FestivAll and emcee of the program. “In fact, we found we couldn’t use it for FestivAll.”

The sun-shading canopies, along with other improvements at the park, were first envisioned by Sasaki Associates, the Boston consulting firm the city of Charleston hired in the mid-2000s to come up with a plan for redeveloping the Kanawha riverfront.

But GAI Consultants, the firm that oversaw the final design and construction, came up with some extra twists, like the new entrance to the amphitheater.

A $2.4 million federal earmark from the late Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., covered most of the cost for the multimillion-dollar project, with help from the Schoenbaum and Haddad foundations, the Charleston Urban Renewal Authority and the city.

Bill Turner and Mark Miller of Pison Development won the Outstanding Preservation Award for their efforts in saving the Loewenstein<co > Building on Capitol Street.

Located at the corner of Brawley Walkway in the heart of the historic district, the building sometimes is referred to as the Ellen’s Ice Cream building. Turner and Miller kept their popular first-floor tenant while spending upwards of $2 million to convert the upper four floors of the former Fife Street Apartments into luxury lofts.

During Thursday’s ceremony in the fourth-floor lodge room of the Masonic Temple building at the corner of Hale and Virginia streets, each honoree received an award in the form of a jigsaw puzzle piece depicting their project, organization or portrait. They placed those pieces into a frame, so that, by the end of the presentations, the puzzle was complete.

Later, people attending the program trouped over to the corner of Quarrier and Dickinson streets, dodging rush-hour traffic, where an 8- by 12-foot banner of artist Rob Cleland’s puzzle was unveiled on the side of the city parking building. The mural will remain there until next year, program organizer Susie Salisbury said.

Groce, the co-host of “Mountain Stage,” took a brief dig at efforts by congressional Republicans to cut funding for public broadcasting.

“As you heard, “Mountain Stage” won one of these awards last year. If you appreciate “Mountain Stage” and think it’s something worthwhile, there are some influential people here, I urge you to contact your congressmen and oppose HR 1076.”

That bill passed the U.S. House on Thursday.

Other award winners Thursday were:

Galperin Jewelry and owner Bob Shay — Kanawha Heritage Award

St. Albans Mayor Dick Calloway — Servant Leader Award

Smoke on the Water Chili Cookoff — Community Celebration Award

Kent Carper Justice & Public Safety Building and the Kanawha County Commission — Best Redevelopment Award

H. Joseph Jones — James R. Thomas Outstanding Volunteer Award

Emma Busse, Charleston Catholic High School — Youth Volunteer Award

Nina Denton Pasinetti — Arts to the Max Award (Individual)

Hospice Care WV Administration Building — Jeff Miller Sustainable Development Award

Appalachian Children’s Chorus — Arts to the Max Award (Organization)

L. Newton Thomas — Do the Charleston Award