The Sustainability Design Assistance Team program is an opportunity for project coordinators to meet with a team of experts such as architects, planners, economist and others to look at what realistic vision can be sustainable for a community. In February, the Helper Revitalization Project is one in seven community projects in the nation to be awarded an SDAT grant through the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
A preliminary visit was made in May, where project coordinators welcomed a staff member from AIA and a DAT team leader to take tour of the project. The visit was informal and helped to establish the topical areas of focus for the full team visit set to take place on September 6 through September 8.
The full team visit will welcome five to seven professionals from all over the country to visit the community. “We are getting their expertise for free, basically….so it’s about $200,000 worth of expertise to come in and look at the concerns we have as a community; economic development, how are we going to be sustainable, historical preservation,” said Helper Revitalization Steering Committee member, Kate Kilpatrick-Miller. “We really are interested in maintaining the integrity and character and the history of Helper, as well as move it forward and urban design.” The visit will help the team look at all aspects of the Helper Revitalization project and determine the goals to better improve Helper as a community.
Another part of this official and informative visit is to not only take a tour to see visually what the town has to offer but meet with the citizens in the community. “Today from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm we have three meetings. We have one meeting around economic development, we have one around historic preservation and then the third is urban design,” stated Kilpatrick-Miller. The Economic Development and Historic Preservation portions will be held in the auditorium, while the Urban Design will be held at the city council room. 
If you are unable to attend the afternoon consultations the team is hosting a meeting that evening at 6:00 pm inside the Helper Auditorium. The community assemblies both afternoon and/or evening are vital for the team of experts to gather information from citizens as to what their perception is on the revitalization project. After the community meeting, there will be a free barbeque with hot dogs, burgers and chips for the first 200 community members. After the intense three-day visit the experts will offer a public presentation of their findings on Friday, September 8 at 6:00 pm inside the Helper Auditorium.
To learn more on the Helper Revitalization Project visit their Facebook page or website at www.helperrevitalization.org