Credit: Brad Gregg

Hizzoner will receive the Joseph P. Riley Jr. Award for Leadership in Urban Design from the American Architectural Foundation (AAF) and the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) for “his leadership in guiding the MAPS 3 initiative from concept to implementation.”

While
we here at Chicken-Fried News like the mayor — and particularly appreciate his
preternatural ability to distract monologuing city council members long
enough to move the meetings forward — there really hasn’t been much done
to date in terms of implementation and groundbreaking on MAPS 3.

Sure,
there’s been some work done on the Oklahoma River, and plans are in the
works on several projects, but last time we checked, there’s no
downtown streetcar zipping between the buildings and scaring oldsters.
No chamber of commerce orgies have been scheduled in a shiny new
convention center yet, and no creepy person is yet offering free hugs in
a tucked-away recess of the planned downtown park.

We’re a little disappointed by that last one. We at CFN love free hugs.

Regardless,
the AAF and USCM plan to bestow the honor on Cornett on March 22 at the
annual Accent on Architecture Gala in Washington, D.C.

So congratulations are in order to da mayor. We’ll be waiting for our free hugs.

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