The City of Wildwood’s Downtown Master Plan was honored yesterday by the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council with a Diamond Award.

Commissioner Julian Green accepted the award on behalf of Wildwood, and City Manager Jason McHugh participated in a panel discussion with other award recipients.

“I am thrilled our plan was chosen for the category of Innovative Places,” said Commissioner Green.

“It recognizes all of the collaboration that is going into forming and carrying out a thoughtful, creative vision to integrate our city’s past, present, and future into a vibrant hub serving the entire community.”

Wildwood’s Downtown Master Plan is a short-, mid-, and long-range strategy for redevelopment of the city’s downtown area, as envisioned by its citizens while incorporating proven best practices and a strategic, sustainable approach to implementation.

“The city hired Ayers Associates to help us develop this plan,” explained McHugh. “We worked with them to engage our stakeholders, who can have competing priorities, and bring them together around common goals and a shared vision for our diverse community. Now it’s up to us to implement it.”

The plan’s initial redevelopment will provide an anchor in the downtown area for new investments of regional significance. As it enhances connectivity between new and existing employers, housing, and a rapidly growing, diversified population and workforce, it will provide a balance of live-work-play resources for the community and the region.

Wildwood’s Railyard project, announced last fall, is a major component of the plan’s first implementation phase. That project will add approximately 125 new parking spaces in a garage on Main Street/US 301 and about 8,000 square feet of new commercial space once constructed.

“It’s an exciting time for our city,” McHugh added. “We have a passionate commission of elected officials who are committed to seeing this plan and these projects through and making Wildwood the very best city in central Florida.”