The accolades are racking up for the multimillion dollar Grey Bruce Health Unit building in Owen Sound.
Public Media Relations Coordinator Drew Ferguson says their latest award comes from the Canadian Urban Institute.
Ferguson says the CUI Brownie Awards recognize Brownfield Projects, or those built on former industrial sites, that show leadership and innovation in redevelopment.
Ferguson says the Health Unit facility was built on the habourfront site of a former nut and bolt factory, which burnt down in the 1940s.
He says back then there wasn’t high environmental sensitivity and industrial contaminates were left on the site.
When the redevelopment project got underway, there was some controversy over the cost of the clean up.
But Ferguson says awards like this justify the choices that were made.
He says the project was meant to be a catalyst for further redevelopment along the harbour and points out there is now a condo project in the works.
Ferguson says after being in the building for over a year now – it’s clear the 14.4 million dollar price tag was well worth it.
He says the most recent benefit of having a state of the art facility was demonstrated with the success of the roll out of the H1N1 vaccination program.
The Health Unit building took top honours in Category Four of the Brownie Awards, for Excellence in Project Development for Small Building Scale.
Ferguson says they were up against projects in Toronto, Saint John, and Winnipeg.
The Collingwood Shipyards won in the Large Building Scale category.
The Grey Bruce Health Unit building has also received a Gold LEEDs certificate and won the architectural design category at the first Owen Sound Cultural Awards.