June 2008

Gary Earp named “2007 Downtowner of the Year”

The Historic Downtown Kennewick Partnership with the help of Washington Trust Bank held its annual Downtowner Banquet “An Evening for the Arts” on Tuesday May 13^th at the Clover Island Inn. About 110 people were on hand to see Gary Earp honored as the 19^th recipient of the "Downtowner of the Year" Award.  Ann Steiger -McClelland, last year's recipient, presented Gary with this year's award.

The "Downtowner of the Year" award honors a person who has been instrumental in promoting the improvement of the downtown area over a number of years.  Gary Earp has been involved in the downtown revitalization for a number of years starting with the restoration of the Cascade Building at 301 W Kennewick . Gary owns a variety of property in the downtown and has assisted. Ann has been involved in a number of promotions in the downtown area. Ann operates the Kennewick Avenue Farmers Market.

Other honors during the evening included naming Merrianne Door as the 2007 recipient of the “Ralph and Jo Benton Volunteer of the Year” Award for her of service and dedication to downtown efforts.  This award recognizes the contributions of an individual through the course of a year. In 2007, Merrianne served as Secretary of the Board and assisted with a number of promotional projects.

The City of Kennewick 's Block Grant Advisory Committee presented three awards at the banquet recognizing excellence in downtown’s revitalization. Linda Boomer, Port of Kennewick Commissioner received the 2007 Revitalization Award for their Port Building on Clover Island at 350 W Clover Island Drive . The Port invested over $2.6 million of public investment

The second award for restoration went to Dr. Nikom & Josie Wannarachue B&G House of Style located at 123 W 1^st Avenue for the façade improvement and the interior restoration. Dr. Nikom & Josie Wannarachue with the assisted of HDKP Façade Improvement Program spent over $20k in the restoration on the exterior and over $150k on the interior to create a high end salon in the downtown.

The third award went to the Tri-City Herald for their contribution to the downtown with their new building at 333 W Canal Drive . The Tri-City Herald invested over $9 million in the renovation of their facilities.

This year the Partnership also honored Clover Island Inn as the "2007 Business of the Year". Clover Island Inn has served as the home of the Partnership Monthly meeting for the past seven years in addition, to numerous other meeting that the Partnership has hosted including meetings for the Bridge to Bridge/River to Railroad project and home of the Downtowner Banquet.

The Partnership also honored at the banquet Bank of the West, Ben Franklin Transit, Tri-City Herald, and Washington Trust Bank for their contribution to the downtown revitalization process through the Main Street Tax Incentive Program. The Partnership recognized Dr. H. Matt Smith for his second year of contributing to the Downtown.