Each year the Downtown Seattle Association recognizes an organization with a Downtown Champion Award for advancing the DSA’s mission to champion a healthy, vibrant urban core.  Nominees are evaluated on a variety of criteria including contributions to a healthy Downtown economy; programs that make Downtown clean, safe and attractive; programs that help people get to, through and from Downtown; and efforts to attract people/employees to Downtown. Recipients of this prestigious award include the Pike Place Market Preservation and Development Authority (2004), Plymouth Housing Group (2005), Seattle Art Museum and Washington Mutual (2006) and FareStart (2007). 

In observation of our 50^th anniversary, DSA broke with tradition by honoring five Downtown Legacy Champion milestone initiatives which have most shaped Downtown in the past 50 years. They exemplify DSA’s commitment to Downtown livability, transportation improvements, support for the arts, retail development and preserving landmark buildings. 

The Downtown Legacy Champion honorees, presented by
Bank of America, are: 

 1.      Seattle World’s Fair for putting Seattle on the world’s map, giving Downtown its iconic Space Needle and Monorail, and bestowing a legacy beloved by generations of Northwesterners.  It remains Seattle’s most massive and successful civic project and is fondly remembered by many as perhaps the best of all World’s Fairs. Learn more about the Seattle World's Fair from citizens who were there.

 2.      Housing Resources Group (formerly Seattle Housing Resources Group), a private non-profit corporation founded by DSA leaders in 1980 to build housing for low-income citizens. Its efforts have helped make Downtown accessible and affordable to all and have contributed to the growth in the number of residents who make their homes Downtown. 

 3.      Renaissance of the Arts in Downtown Seattle began with the preservation of the 5th Avenue Theatre in the early 1980’s. The 5th Avenue Theatre’s success, and the community’s embrace, led to the steady re-emergence of culture and arts Downtown in the 1990s. The 5th Avenue Theatre was soon joined by the new ACT Theatre, the new Seattle Art Museum, the restoration of the Paramount Theatre and the new Benaroya Hall, home of the Seattle Symphony, which continued in the 2000’s with the Experience Music Project, Wing Luke Asian Museum, the expansion of SAM and the Olympic Sculpture Park – collectively re-establishing Downtown as the center of arts and culture in our region.  

 4.      Washington State Convention & Trade Center and Freeway Park, a non-profit organization established in 1982 by the Legislature to provide economic and civic benefits to the people of Washington. The Convention Center building and Freeway Park, which opened in 1988, helped pave the way for the revitalization of the retail core and draws millions per year for convention and trade business, while demonstrating a commitment to the building and renovation of affordable housing, preserving historic landmarks and acquiring an extensive collection of public art. 

 5.      The Downtown Retail Core Revitalization in the 1990s enhanced the vibrancy of our retail core at a time when other cities were struggling. This collaboration of many partners has contributed to a unique setting that offers world-class shopping and dining, exciting arts and entertainment venues, thrilling professional sporting events, full-service hotels and a popular conference center in a culturally rich setting with historic significance and natural beauty, a combination that is unmatched in the Pacific Northwest. 

Congratulations to these honorees and to all who have helped make Downtown Seattle the distinctive, special place that we all treasure today – and to Bank of America for sponsoring the recognition program for the past five years.