CenLamar

Next Monday, you should all drive to the Coughlin-Saunders Performing Arts Center in Downtown Alexandria around 1:25PM.

Free parking.

Free admission.

And you’ll get to hear a series of incredible lectures and presentations from nearly two dozen of the nation’s and the state’s leading experts in urban redevelopment, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), and infrastructure investment.

The keynote speaker on Day One is Mayor Joseph Riley, the long-time Mayor of Charleston, South Carolina. Last year, the President gave Mayor Riley the National Medal of Arts. Riley’s revolutionized his hometown. Today, Charleston is one of America’s top travel destinations. A couple of weeks ago, Charleston was named America’s “Most Friendly City.” In his spare time, Mayor Riley founded the Mayors’ Institute on City Design, which has done incredible things for cities all across the country throughout the last two decades.

You’ll hear from Frederic Schwartz and Carlton Brown about the largest redevelopment project in the history of Jackson, MS and about their recently-launched plans to create sustainable, affordable housing in Ghana and Haiti. Fred’s an internationally-renowned architect, winner of the Rome Prize; he’s been featured in his hometown paper, The New York Times, nearly two dozen times, and he’s taught at Harvard, Yale, and Berekely. Carlton’s one of the country’s most successful African-American developers and a board member of the US Green Building Council. Sundance Channel recently dedicated an episode of their show “Big Ideas for a Small Planet” to Carlton and his work in Harlem.

Jeff Carbo and Mayor Brown Claybar of Orange, Texas are going to talk about the Shangri-La Botanical Gardens, which was recognized last year as one of the country’s top ten green projects by the AIA.

Greg Saville, one of the world’s foremost experts in CPTED, will talk about safe growth. Greg is the coauthor of the National Police Officer Training Program and the founder of the International Association of CPTED.

Steven Bingler and Bobbi Provosty Hill will discuss the idea of “nexus communities.” If you’ve never heard of this before, believe me, it’s a fascinating and intuitive idea.

And there’s much more: Eric Shaw on resiliency in Louisiana, Haley Blakeman on the innovative work being undertaken in Jena, Mayor Fields on Ft. Randolph and Ft. Buhlow, Pat Moore on the development of the Lake Charles promenade, Jason Tudor on neighborhood-level capacity-building in Hollygrove, Tyson Hackenberg on redeveloping brownfields, Chris Camp on emerging trends in recreation infrastructure.

All in Day One. All for free.

On Day Two, show up 9:00AM at Alexandria Convention Hall. Greg Saville will lead and moderate the day’s workshops, which will be focused on public safety and crime prevention.

Again, it’s all free.

In fact, if you’re an architect, landscape architect, engineer, or planner, you may qualify for free Continuing Education hours.

Some come one, come all.