OCL announces winner of 2012 Civic Beautification Awards

The Susan Atseff Memorial Park, also known as Salt Springs Park, is the recipient of the Onondaga Citizens League 2012 Civic Beautification Award. The award recognizes landscapes and plantings that enhance the livability of the city, are pleasing to the eye, enhance a view, define and create a space or seating area and activate a public space.

Tim Atseff, retired managing editor of The Syracuse Post-Standard, created the memorial for his late wife in a public park at the intersection of East Genesee Street and Salt Springs Road. It creates an inspirational gateway to and from the city. Atseff and his family planted trees, bushes and flowers and added an 8-foot stainless steel sculpture. He set up an endowment fund at the Central New York Community Foundation to ensure the park will always be cared for. The memorial serves as a model of how private citizens can work with government to improve community image.

OCL will present a number of Civic Beautification awards in 2012 as a follow-up to its 2011 study, “Community Image: Valuing Our Public Spaces.”

Visit the OCL website at http://onondagacitizensleague.org for additional information, or email ocl@syr.edu or call 315-443-4846.