MARYSVILLE — A home with an eye-popping backyard railroad garden, a State Avenue office building with curb appeal, and a colorful, trendsetting makeover of office space downtown are this year’s winners of the Pride of Marysville neighborhood improvement awards.
The awards, now in their second year, drew a strong pool of nominees submitted by community members, including homes from last year that earned honorable mention.
“We didn’t have to look far to find homes and businesses that exemplify the Pride of Marysville award program goals,” said Mayor Jon Nehring, who launched the program in 2012. “All of the nominees reflect well on our community, enhancing Marysville’s appearance, and hopefully will inspire others to do the same. Our winners took it a step further.”
Here are the winners:
• Best Home/Pride of the Neighborhood — Mike and Janet Elmore. Awarded to a home that is consistently well-kept, with manicured lawns and colorful landscapes, or enhanced with new paint, landscaping or other significant aesthetic improvements, the Elmore home at 11800 47th Dr. NE shares all of these traits. The railroad garden hidden behind a fenced backyard uses miniature trees and plants to create a scaled theme, but the two residents who nominated the Elmore home are also quick to note that the eye for detail the couple gives to their backyard carries over to the landscaping and design in their corner front yard as well.
• Best Business — Girl Scouts of Western Washington/North County Outlook building. This award goes to a business that conveys the most curb appeal through attractive landscaping and building exteriors, and an overall well-kept appearance. The building at 1331 State Ave., owned by Bob Barrett of MacPherson Realty, puts parking behind the building and adds to better walkability in a section of State Avenue dominated by parking lots.
• James Comeford Award (Mayor’s Choice) – Business complex at Fifth Street and State Avenue. This award, named after Marysville’s visionary town founder and original trading post operator, is presented to the most-improved home or business in the downtown or waterfront district. This year’s winner is Christian Kar, CEO of Silver Cup Coffee and The Espresso Connection, and owner of the property. Kar renovated his corner lot near Comeford Park that houses Subway, The Espresso Connection and Tobacco Joe’s. A creative blend of exterior paint colors, and the use of timeless, classy materials combined to create a visually appealing neighbor to the park, and stimulated more business activity downtown.
A selection committee reviewed the nominations earlier this summer, and included the Mayor, City Council member Michael Stevens, Parks Director Jim Ballew, Information Officer Doug Buell and citizen at-large Cheryl Deckard.
The city invited the public to nominate their favorite homes and businesses around Marysville last March, with nominees judged on visual enhancement, preservation of the character of their neighborhood, and improvements to building and landscaping.
The winners will be honored publicly at the City Council meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 9, in the Council Chambers on the second floor of City Hall, located 1049 State Ave. They will also be presented with decorative Pride of Marysville lawn and wall markers to place at their homes or businesses, to share their accolades with passing pedestrians and drivers.
“The Pride of Marysville awards are viewed as one solution toward creating a cleaner, more attractive community,” Nehring said.
