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Palmdale’s Courson Arts Colony wins Helen Putnam Award

by The AV Times Staff • October 9, 2020

[L to R] Palmdale City Manager J.J. Murphy, Capital Improvement Program Manager Lynn Glidden, Housing Manager Sophia Reyes, and Mayor Steve Hofbauer. [Contributed image]
PALMDALE – The city of Palmdale’s Courson Arts Colony (CAC) was awarded the 2020 Helen Putnam Award for excellence in the category of Housing Programs and Innovations by the League of California Cities at its virtual annual conference held Thursday, Oct. 8.

This award comes just months after Palmdale and the CAC won the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) 2020 Sustainability Award, also in the Housing Innovation category.

“The CAC has been a project 20-years in the making that required strong commitment from City staff, City Council, and the community,” said Palmdale Mayor Steve Hofbauer. “I am proud to have worked with City Council on this important project. It’s the latest piece of revitalization and housing innovation that also includes Legacy Commons for Active Seniors, two dedicated senior housing complexes, and the newly renovated Courson Park and Pool, Palmdale’s first park and pool and considered to be the heart of the neighborhood.”

“I could not be any prouder of our staff who have collaborated over the years to create a unique experience that provides much needed affordable housing and important resources,” said Palmdale City Manager J.J. Murphy. “The CAC has added to the city center two modern three-story affordable housing complexes providing 160 units for families and individuals earning 50 percent or less of the area median income, and 60 of these units are permanent supportive housing apartments already serving medically complex veteran and non-veteran households experiencing homelessness.”

“City Housing staff met with community members, groups and partners,” said Director of Neighborhood Services Mike Miller. “Our community overwhelmingly agreed that not only did we need to house our homeless veterans and other homeless individuals but provide a greater quality of life. The CAC is designed as an arts-oriented community, with amenities meant to provide spaces to inspire a healthy, healing, and creative lifestyle.”

Some of those amenities include a community clubhouse, game rooms, homework rooms, art studios, dance studio, computer and learning spaces, fitness center, bicycle repair and storage space, an art walk and a fully functioning non-profit art gallery. It also has many outdoor amenities, including an amphitheater, picnic areas, a toddler playground, and community gardening areas. Today, the CAC is home to the people and families it was planned and designed to serve, and the entire neighborhood and City has felt the positive impact.

“It has been amazing to see the goals of the project achieved and to watch these three blocks and this neighborhood transform,” said Housing Manager Sophia Reyes. “We have worked hard to restore this neighborhood. Today, it is again a place that residents are proud to call home.”

[Information via news release from the city of Palmdale.]

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Filed Under: Home, Palmdale

2 comments for "Palmdale’s Courson Arts Colony wins Helen Putnam Award"

  1. Kevin Merritt says

    October 11, 2020 at 8:19 am

    Art colony starts by defrauding a undisclosed amount of people by taking $65 or more in some cases a piece for credit checks that were unprooven there were no letters sent to anyone from any credit check company or any record of a check of credit on anyone that i know trw . We’re talking a great deal of money given by what seemed like half of the AV a account of this money should be made sounds like a class action suit to me give people a written verifiable statement from a company who checked or refund what may be millions $ back to the poor hard working people of AV Courson should be ashamed

  2. Terry Irons says

    October 10, 2020 at 11:54 am

    The phony/fireman Mayor is taking credit for what others have done. Sad but it is his MO.

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