LEWISTON – A group of city officials and teens hope Lewiston’s economic progress will be recognized by a national group this summer.
The city completed its application for the 2006 All-America City Award Monday with a press conference. It’s an award given to 10 cities each year since 1949, recognizing them for working together to tackle tough problems.
Finalists for the award will be announced on April 13. Deputy City Administrator Phil Nadeau said roughly 50 cities will apply and 30 will be named finalists.
Ambassadors from those 30 cities will go to Anaheim, Calif., in June to give oral presentations. A jury from the National Civic League will select 10 winning cities, giving them the right to put the “All-America City” logo on publications and signs throughout their communities.
“When Lewiston’s selected, we can expect a great benefit from that distinction,” said Mayor Lionel C. Guay Jr. It also would put the city in the national spotlight, give it better business recruiting power and increase civic pride.
“The application process also presents a unique opportunity for a community to look at what they have done right as well as strive toward additional community partnerships,” Guay said.
The application is a 20-page summary of good things that have happened in Lewiston over the past few years, from landing the Lewiston Maineiacs Quebec Major Junior semi-professional hockey team to being named one of the top 100 places to do business by Inc. Magazine.
The application was written by Lewiston’s Youth Advisory Council, a group of 11 high school students appointed by the City Council to take on certain community-oriented tasks. Past projects have included creating a display space in Lewiston for the city’s historic tower clock and buying an electronic sign for the entrance to Lewiston High School.
The youth group began researching the application in November and wrapped up its fourth and final draft last week.
Four Maine cities have won the honor: Portland in 1950, South Portland in 1964, Presque Isle in 1966 and Auburn in 1967.
Three other Maine cities have been named finalists, but have not made the final list. They are Gardiner in 1957, Kittery in 1968 and Augusta in 1988.
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