City of Tallahassee Earns Top Honors for Transformative Environmental Efforts

September 19, 2025

The City of Tallahassee is proud to announce it has received the Sunrise Award and Redevelopment Award from the Florida Brownfields Association (FBA), recognizing its commitment to environmental stewardship, community engagement and sustainable growth.

These prestigious awards spotlight the City's successful Brownfields program, which is recognized as one of the most successful in Florida and the southeastern United States. Through this program, the City has secured over $3 million in grant funding from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) since 1997 to turn underused, environmentally impacted sites into thriving community assets.

Brownfields are properties where the perception or presence of environmental contamination hinder growth and development. Cleaning up brownfield properties improves the environment, facilitates job growth, utilizes existing infrastructure, increases the local tax base and enables redevelopment opportunities.

The Sunrise Award recognizes the most impactful brownfields redevelopment projects in the state of Florida that successfully leverage multi-stakeholder partnerships to bring about positive change. The Redevelopment Award celebrates innovative, transformative projects that are models of resilience, environmental responsibility and strategic reuse.

The centerpiece of this dual achievement is the transformation of Cascades Park, a former polluted Superfund alternative site, into a nationally recognized park known as a vibrant cultural and recreational destination that also houses vital stormwater infrastructure.

"This achievement highlights the City's leadership in turning environmental challenges into opportunities for economic vitality and community pride," Deputy City Manager Karen Jumonville said. "The dedication and expertise of staff in the transformation of Cascades Park exemplifies the power of brownfields redevelopment to restore contaminated land and revitalize communities."

Through collaboration by the City of Tallahassee, Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency, EPA, FDEP and private stakeholders, this once-polluted site was remediated and repurposed into a thriving community asset that has spurred more than $300 million in private investment.

As part of the City's 2025-2029 Strategic Plan, the City will complete 25 environmental assessments, remediation or redevelopment projects at brownfield sites throughout the City. To learn more about the program, visit Talgov.com/Brownfields.