Ron Frantz, Associate Professor and Director of Small Town Studios with the Institute for Quality Communities, recently presented the keynote address at the 2022 Iowa Downtown Conference. The conference, held in Pella, Iowa, was organized by the Iowa Economic Development Authority’s Iowa Downtown Resource Center and included plenary sessions with speakers and educational breakout sessions focusing on downtown revitalization, field sessions, tours, an exhibit hall and several networking activities in cool venues. Attendees had the opportunity to learn about the latest trends, acquire practical information and ideas, and learn strategies relevant to rural, mid-sized, and urban communities.
Frantz’s talk, titled “Recruiting the Next Generation of Downtown Preservationists,” pulled from his experiences teaching the Historic Preservation Course at Gibbs College. He discussed ways to engage college students in historic preservation and revitalization. In his presentation, he talked about his approach for delivering design recommendations to help future leaders step into the world feeling confident as historic preservation supporters and downtown enthusiasts.
Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design (PLAD) alumni Trey Ingram, AICP recently spoke with current PLAD student and graduate media assistant Molly Strobel to share his experiences with the Regional and City Planning program and current work with the Toyota Mobility Foundation.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture assistant professor Amy Leveno and Mark Leveno, co-founders of OFFICIAL Design, have received a 2026 AIA Central States Region Design Award for the firm’s Granger Annex Community Center project in Garland, Texas.
Construction Industry Speaker Series welcomed Stephen Evans from the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum to give a lecture on better conversations and relationship building.
