Nominations are now open for the Mississauga Urban Design Awards -- the longest running awards program of its kind in Ontario. This year, the program celebrates its 25th anniversary of recognizing design excellence in the City.

Anyone may nominate a project. The competition is open to both the general public and professionals within the development industry and related fields. All nominated projects must be located within the City of Mississauga and fully completed prior to August 15, 2006.

Nominations will be accepted for developments including: housing, commercial and institutional buildings, industrial plants and recreational facilities. Well-designed public utilities, streetscapes, open spaces and renovations to heritage buildings qualify, as well as mixed-use projects. However, projects nominated in previous years are not eligible. Nominees will be judged according to their contribution in making Mississauga a vibrant and liveable city.

Last year, the City presented an Urban Design Award of Excellence to:

• CityGate - Phase I, 3939 Duke of York Boulevard (Davies Smith Developments, Quadrangle Architects Limited, Alexander Budrevics & Associates Limited, Peel Condominium Corporation #731)

Six Awards of Merit were presented to projects that met the following award criteria:

Community Significance

• University of Toronto at Mississauga Campus Master Plan, 3359 Mississauga Road North (University of Toronto at Mississauga, Sweeny Sterling Finlayson & Co. Architects, Gunta Mackars Landscape Architect)
• 70 Port Street East, 80 Port Street West and Port Street Market, 125, 129, 139 Lakeshore Road East (FRAM Building Group\Slokker Canada, Giannone Associates Architects Inc., Baker Turner Inc., Peel Standard Condominiums #411, Peel Standard Condominiums #316)

Innovation and City-Wide Significance

• BraeBen Golf Course, 5700 Terry Fox Way (Peel Regional Municipality, City of Mississauga, Radeff Architect Ltd., Baker Turner Inc.)

Community Context, Significance and Innovation

• Peel Youth Centre, 99 Acorn Place (Region of Peel Housing Development, Levitt Goodman Architects Ltd.)

Architectural Innovation and Execution

• Microsoft Canada Headquarters, 1950 Meadowvale Boulevard (2725312 Canada Inc., Microsoft Canada, Sweeny Sterling Finlayson & Co. Architects Inc., Adamson Associates Architects)

Context and Execution

• AstraZeneca Canadian Business Centre Phase 2, 1004 Middlegate Road (AstraZeneca Canada Inc., WZMH Architects, Envision - The Hough Group Limited)

The 2006 Mississauga Urban Design Awards presentation and anniversary celebration will take place at the Mississauga Living Arts Centre on Monday, October 16, 2006.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, September 1, 2006. Award information is available at the City of Mississauga's website at www.mississauga.ca/portal/residents/urbandesignawards. Nomination forms are available by visiting the Planning and Building Department, 11th Floor, Mississauga Civic Centre, 300 City Centre Drive or by calling Sue Hinton at 905-615-3200 Ext. 5521.

Mississauga is Canada's sixth largest city with a population of 700,000. With well-established infrastructure and state-of-the-art facilities, the City delivers quality municipal programs and services to its citizens. Mississauga is recognized as Canada's safest city.