INDIANAPOLIS – Ball State University's planning center in Indianapolis has earned national accolades for the Web site it created to help coordinate planning in downtown Indianapolis.

Specifically, the College of Architecture and Planning's Indianapolis Center (CAP:IC) won a 2004 Digital Education Achievement Award from the Center for Digital Education. The award recognizes the innovative Web design of the Indianapolis Regional Center Plan 2020, the plan that will guide downtown development for the next 20 years.

"From the beginning of the 2020 planning process, we discussed the role the Web would play in exchanging information and encouraging participation," said Scott Truex, director of CAP:IC. "Our goal was to create a portal that would not only serve those directly participating in the process, but also the general public."

Even after the 2020 plan's completion, the Web site still serves as a forum for ideas. The site continues to stimulate discussion that city planners find essential to a community-based approach for visioning the future of the city, Truex added.

"The Web site played an extremely important role in the planning process," said Mike Peoni, administrator for the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development's Planning Division. "It allowed us to provide current information and create a living document rather than one that would sit on a shelf somewhere once it was complete. Even now, we're still working to articulate programs and projects recommended in the plan."

More than 40 Web sites were honored by the Center for Digital Education, a Folsom, Calif.-based company that serves as a national resource for education-technology research, events and publications. The innovative K-12 and higher education sites honored by the center can be viewed at www.centerdigitaled.com.

The Web site's designer, Brad Beaubien, CAP:IC's communication specialist, began working on the site for the downtown plan as a graduate assistant. Once the site was complete, it generated input from people around the United States regarding the future of downtown Indianapolis, Truex said.

"This award is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of Brad who transformed an idea on a napkin into a dynamic useable resource," Truex said. "It illustrates the opportunities our center can play in applied research as we explore our own understanding of community participation in a real-world setting."

Before receiving this national award, the center was honored locally. CAP:IC earned a 2004 Nuvo Cultural Vision Award for its effort to provide a framework for future development and helping city officials, local businesses and residents envision the downtown of tomorrow.                     

The College of Architecture and Planning has long been involved in community-based projects around Indiana and abroad. Guiding efforts to improve Indiana cities and towns is a central feature of Ball State's Building Better Communities initiative. 

(Note to editors: For more information, contact Truex at (317) 696-6170 or struex@bsu.edu.)

Building Better Communities is an initiative designed to spur economic development and quality of life advancement in Indiana by applying Ball State's strengths in applied research and hands-on learning to projects across the state. With financial support from the Indiana Legislature and Lilly Endowment's Business Fellows Program, Building Better Communities works to match the university's expertise and resources to the varied needs of Indiana communities.