Battle Creek Honored As Finalist For ‘All-America City’ Award

Battle Creek didn't win, but they still made the top 20 finalists for a prestigious national civic award.

For months now, Battle Creek’s government and community members have been working to get together a presentation that would lead to the city becoming an All-America City: an award handed out every year by the National Civic League.

On Saturday and Sunday, a team of 15 involving representatives from the City’s Office, the Battle Creek Coalition for Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation, the Byrne Grant for Criminal Justice, and BCVision, headed out to Denver, Colorado to compete as a finalist. Battle Creek’s presentation focused on The Bottoms, a part of town that was displaced after terrible flooding some decades ago; it also discussed addressing racism in the school system, and efforts to increase youth involvement in city affairs.

When the awards were handed out Sunday, Battle Creek was not among the 10 recognized as a winner; however, City Manager Rebecca Fleury says it was “an amazing experience to be recognized for the hard work being done in Battle Creek”.

The communities chosen as winners were Springdale, AR; Stockton, CA; Longmont, CO; Decatur, GA; Las Vegas, NV; Charlotte, NC; Kershaw County, SC; Mount Pleasant, SC; El Paso, TX; and San Antonio, TX.