AIAS Presents Community Design Award

The Kansas State University chapter of the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) has presented Rod Harms with its 2006 Community Design Award.

A Manhattan resident and principal of Civitas Group Holding Company, Inc., Harms was honored for work he has done in his hometown of Hoisington. Harms purchased and remodeled five buildings located on Main Street in Hoisington. These buildings were returned to their original uses as stores, offices, and apartments. While providing improvements necessary to the comfort of the occupants, the buildings were restored as closely as possible to their early Twentieth Century appearance.

Harms also participated in the application process, which resulted in Hoisington being named a Kansas Main Street community in 2005. He now serves on Hoisington’s Main Street board of directors as well as on the economic restructuring committee. The Hoisington Dispatch recognized Harms as Citizen of the Year for his work in the community.

Harms received the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from in 1982, and has been a consistent supporter of K-State students. Through the years, Civitas has employed more than 100 K-State students during their years of study. Students were involved in the work in Hoisington.

AIAS President and fifth-year architecture student James Evrard announced the award at the recent Architecture Evening. K-State’s AIAS membership is composed of students studying in the College of Architecture, Planning and Design at K-State. According to Evrard, nominations for the award were solicited from faculty members. “The nominations were then researched and discussed by the AIAS officers,” Evrard said. Rod Harms was selected to receive the 2006 Community Design Award from a group of highly deserving nominees, all of whom had made a significant and positive difference in the quality of the built environment in Kansas.

For more information, contact:
James Evrard
Diane Potts, 785.532.1090