Statewide contest highlights several Gainesville buildings

The newly renovated Reitz Union is currently taking a lead in a state-wide competition honoring the most inspiring and unique buildings in Florida.

As of press time, the Reitz is No. 2 on the 2016 People’s Choice Award’s Top 10 list. Savion Park Apartments, located at 721 SW Fifth Ave., is currently at No. 3 and St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Tallahassee is at No. 1.

The Florida Foundation for Architecture, a nonprofit founded by the Florida Association of the American Institute of Architects, sponsored the event, which includes 39 buildings.

The voting opened June 22 and will remain open at aiaflatop100.org until July 22 at midnight, said Candace Munz, the manager of communication for the association.

People from all over the world have the opportunity to choose from the different Florida buildings. In 2015, Munz said, approximately 560,000 votes were counted from more than 40 states and 120 countries.

“Of course, we are always hopeful that this will increase and we will see even more participation this year,” she said.

Munz said the People’s Choice Award is meant to help the public find a greater appreciation for architecture.

“The contest was designed in an effort to share the great architecture of Florida with its residents and with those who visit our state,” she said.

Thirteen local chapters of the association picked the contest’s featured buildings, which must be a public space in Florida that has been built or renovated in the last five years, Munz said.

The winners, she said, will be honored at the AIA Florida Convention and Trade Show in Palm Beach and will receive the opportunity to host an event for the public to tour the winning buildings and meet the architects.

“We want to give these buildings the opportunity to showcase their design to the public and really engage with the architects behind it all,” Munz said.

Eddie Daniels, the executive director for the Reitz, said he is pleased to see the building featured.

“It is exciting to know that the Reitz is being recognized in this way,” he said. “When other people see how attractive and functional that it really is, that’s a huge honor.”

UF President Kent Fuchs called it the “queen of the campus” at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly renovated union in February.

This would be the third award the Reitz has won since it was remodeled last semester, Daniels said. The building has received Gainesville’s annual City Beautification Award and the New York City Urban Green Council’s Power to the People EBie award.