PHOENIX — The revitalized Park Central project in central Phoenix recently received two major development industry awards for its positive impact on the community.
Park Central won the 2022 Award of Distinction for Art in Public Spaces at the Arizona Forward Environmental Excellence Awards Gala held on March 19. The award recognizes the project’s many public art features, including the three major mural installations, large sculptures, the curated collection at the Virginia G. Piper Creighton University Health Sciences Building and the project’s emergence as a hub for arts and culture.
Park Central has already hosted dozens of visual and performing arts events over the past few years and is adding several more key arts components in the coming months. Park Central continues to host significant arts events in conjunction with Artlink, which curates art programming at Park Central and is headquartered on site.
The project was spotlighted as well with the win by Joan Baron and Gloria Martinez-Granados in the Art in Public Spaces category for their work “Good Trouble Bucket,” which was displayed at Park Central as part of the 2020 Art d’Core Exhibition.
Inside a 35,000 square foot raw warehouse space built in the 1950’s in downtown Phoenix, two artists embarked upon a major mixed media art installation-performance piece. The purpose was to bring awareness to issues around immigration reform, social justice and behaviors that inspire and create lasting change that benefit and sustain life for all.
Additionally, the Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Health Sciences Building on Creighton University’s Phoenix campus at Park Central recently won the 2022 RED Award for Best Higher Education Building presented by AZRE Magazine.
The building is 195,000 square feet with 6,000+ square feet of simulation space and 10,000 square feet of student collaboration space. The building opened in 2021 and features nursing, pharmacy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, physician assistant and medical school programs.
State-of-the-art simulation labs and instruction rooms that will support learning and growth, along with 16 Standardized Patient Simulation exam rooms equipped with hospital-grade features, a trauma simulation room, 10 high-fidelity simulation areas for other specialties, an expansive outdoor terrace and spaces to collaborate throughout the facility. Nearly 900 students are anticipated to be on campus by 2025.
Stan Shafer, chief operating officer of Holualoa Companies, said the recognition is an affirmation of Park Central’s important profile in the community.
“We set out to create something exceptional at Park Central, and these awards demonstrate that we have been successful in creating a project of exceptional quality,” he said. “We would like to thank Arizona Forward and AZRE Magazine for the recognition we have received at Park Central, and we look forward to continuing to grow and enhance Park Central in the coming years.”
Plaza Companies was the developer of the Creighton building, with Okland Construction serving as general contractor. Butler Design Group and RDG Planning & Design were the architects of record.
