Becker College Receives Urban Design Appreciation Award

Published on Thursday, May 05, 2011

Preservation Worcester presented Becker College with an Urban Design Appreciation Award at the non-profit organization’s annual meeting.

The award was in recognition of

• The college’s adaptive re-use of historical properties on its Worcester campus;
• Stewardship of its campus as part of a National Register District, with 18 properties on the National Register of Historic Places, and
• Showing community commitment through investing in the Massachusetts Digital Games Institute (MassDiGI), located on the Worcester campus.

After a two-year study, Preservation Worcester ranked Clark University, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences as the top three among local institutions with the highest standards of urban design. The study, which included nine Worcester colleges and universities, as well as Worcester Academy and Notre Dame Academy, assessed institutions’ master plan, commitment to community revitalization, maintenance, accurate restoration, adaptive re-use, compatible new construction, landscaping and green construction.

“I was particularly impressed that Becker College has 18 buildings in Worcester that are on the Historical Register,” said Deborah Packard, Preservation Worcester’s executive director. “That is a significant responsibility, and they do a great job.”

Historic preservation is a priority at Becker College, which also owns 19 Historic Register properties on its Leicester campus.

Preservation Worcester is a private, not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to the preservation of buildings, sites, and neighborhoods which represent the culture, history, and architecture of Worcester, Massachusetts.