A bit of redemption for the Town of High River and their downtown revitalization plans that drew praise and criticism after the 2013 flood.

They picked up the Award for Planning Excellence in the category of Rural/Small Town Planning at the Building Resilience Conference in Calgary on Monday, June 19th.

High River Town Planner Sarah Peck says the changes to how the downtown is structured drew high praise.

"The central theme of the ARP (Area redevelopment Plan) are designing for people first, as opposed to cars first. As well as concentrating on high quality designs, rather than uses. And designing for mixed use spaces so those spaces can be easily transformed into different uses, now and in the future."

The award was presented to High River's Manager of Planning and Development Services, Khalid Mohammed, while special recognition was paid to the Town's development partners O2 Planning and Design.

Peck says it was a risk that's paid off for the Town.