Nominations will now be accepted for the 23rd annual Mississauga Urban Design Awards, the longest running awards program of its kind in Ontario.

"We are very proud of this competition which continues to demonstrate Mississauga's leadership in setting the highest standards for urban design," said City of Mississauga Commissioner of Planning and Building Ed Sajecki. "This program recognizes and rewards the design and development industry for meeting our City's high urban design principles. This results in raising urban design standards for the entire industry across the city and the province."

Anyone may nominate a project. The competition is open to both the general public and professionals within the development industry and related fields. All nominated projects must be located within the City of Mississauga and fully completed prior to August 16, 2004.

Nominations are being accepted for developments including: housing, commercial and institutional buildings, industrial plants and recreational facilities. Well-designed public utilities, streetscapes and renovations to heritage buildings qualify, as well as mixed-use projects. Open spaces, single and multiple dwellings will also be considered. However, projects nominated in previous years are not eligible.

Nominees will be judged according to their contribution in making Mississauga a vibrant and liveable city. Last year, Awards of Excellence were presented to AstraZeneca Canada Inc. Canadian Business Centre Phase I - 1004 Middlegate Road (WZMH Architects and Envision - the Hough Group), Port Credit Village Townhomes - St. Lawrence Drive and Hurontario Street (FRAM Building Group/Slokker Canada and Giannone Associates Architects Inc./Baker Turner Inc.), and The Pines - 1706-1742 The Pines (Legend Homes, Hicks-Pettes Architects Inc. and Fleisher Ridout Partnership Inc.).

In addition, Awards of Merit were presented to Mercedes-Benz of Mississauga for architecture and Biovail Corporate Headquarters for innovation.

The 2004 Mississauga Urban Design Awards presentation will take place at the Mississauga Civic Centre on Monday, November 15, 2004. The 2004 Mississauga Urban Design Awards jury members include City of Mississauga Ward 5 Councillor Eve Adams, Commissioner of Planning and Building Ed Sajecki, Anne McIlroy, principal and architect/urban designer, Brooks McIlroy Architects and Karen Hammond, professor, Community Planning/Urban Design, University of Waterloo.

The deadline for nominations is September 3, 2004. Nomination forms are available on-line at the City of Mississauga Web site at http://www.mississauga.ca/portal/residents/urbandesignawards, by visiting the Planning and Building Department, 11th Floor, Mississauga Civic Centre, 300 City Centre Drive or by calling 905-896-5522.