On April 13, the National Park Service Denver Service Center won an award from the American Planning Association Federal Planning Division for work they did on the St. Croix National Heritage Area Feasibility Study. In their decision, the Planning Division applauded the high level of collaboration that took place between the DSC and local community organizations to capture St. Croix’s “island voice.”
That collaboration seems to have suffered a minor hiccup, however, because no one thought to call any of the partners on St. Croix to tell them about the win.
“Get out! Really?” exclaimed Claudette Young Hinds when told about the award on Wednesday. “That’s amazing.”
Hinds is the president of St. Croix United for Community, Culture, Environment and Economic Development Inc., which will run the heritage area if and when it’s finally approved by Congress. Her organization is at the heart of the planning and implementation of the heritage area on St. Croix, but Hinds said she wasn’t too surprised that word about the award didn’t reach her.
“They’re a really busy crew,” she said of the DSC, adding that people who work in cultural preservation aren’t always the best at sending press releases. “The Lord knows we’re doing the good work, but we don’t do the media side of it. We don’t toot our own horns.”
David Goldstein, chief of interpretation and education for the NPS on St. Croix, was the one who first heard about the award. He said it was a complete accident. As part of some routine training, he was tasked with familiarizing himself with the DSC. He visited their website and stumbled across a link to an article announcing the award.
“It’s a huge thing,” Goldstein said of the accomplishment. “We’re operating on a very, very high level of quality in the development of this heritage area.”
“People in the continental United States have difficulty getting communities to work together to get those kinds of documents made,” he continued. “The fact that we in a territory were able to do it…It’s a major, major success for the territory.”
The Denver Service Center oversees planning and design projects for the NPS. While developing the feasibility study on St. Croix, they mined information from the community through many channels, including public meetings, radio talk shows, personal interviews and an interactive web site. A song was even written by a local musician as part of the project.
“My office stressed that a strong community approach for the feasibility study was necessary and we walked [the DSC] through the process,” said Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen in a written statement after learning about the award Wednesday.
“I believed then, and still do today, that the success of the NHA [national heritage area] designation and the feasibility process would be judged by the amount of buy-in and support that would be achieved by a good cross section of the St. Croix community.”
The feasibility study found that St. Croix met all of the criteria for becoming a national heritage area. If it receives final approval from Congress, the St. Croix National Heritage Area will serve as a planning and granting agency that will promote cultural preservation and tourism on the island with a budget of as much as $1 million.
Lindy Allen, DSC public affairs specialist, said her office does not submit every plan they complete to the Federal Planning Division for award consideration, but that the outstanding level of community involvement in the St. Croix feasibility study made it a strong contender.
“We’re proud of all of our projects and all the work we do here,” she said. “We’re obviously thrilled an honored when we receive an award, but I wouldn’t say we’re surprised.”
She added that she was sorry that the park service on St. Croix was not notified of the award at the time.
