Architect Sjur Linberg and artist John Mills won $25,000 each for their visions of a new Hamilton waterfront, it was announced yesterday.

The ?On the Waterfront? contest, organised by former Premier Sir John Swan and the Bermuda Sun, attracted about 60 entries.

Yesterday judges announced their top choices in each of three categories ? under 18, amateur and professional.

The panel of judges ? Ruth Thomas, Senator Walwyn Hughes, Boston architect Tony Mellows and MIT architecture professor Tunney Lee ? also announced merit awards for designs deserving special mention.

Just a handful of the winners were at the brief ceremony at Number Six shed yesterday afternoon ? the judges? decisions were kept secret until the very last minute.

?I?m very pleased,? said Mr. Linberg. ?We put a lot of effort in it. We were very sincere with our effort and it?s wonderful that we are being recognised for our efforts.?

Mr. Linberg?s design involved making Hamilton Harbour more accessible to the public and visiting yachts by creating cruise ship piers that jut out diagonally from the waterfront, building 500 additional parking spaces ? underground at Par-la-Ville park and pedestrianising Queen Street.

Mr. Linberg would also move the container docks off Front Street onto North Shore.

Similar ideas were expressed with Mr. Mills? design. The artist and former architect said his guiding principle was to ?open up Front Street for people to enjoy the water?.

He would eliminate one lane on some Hamilton streets to create extra parking in diagonal bays. Sensors at the start of a street would alert commuters to availability of parking space, he said. And Mr. Mills would move the docks to Southside, build an arch bridge to replace Longbird Bridge and build a barrier island around parts of the Causeway.

Shakeela Smith, one of the under 18 merit winners, said she was pleasantly surprised the judges recognised her effort.

?I just got it in on time because I was busy with other stuff at the time,? the CedarBridge Academy student said. Four others were given merit awards in the under 18 category while eight received merit awards in the amateur category. Calypso Hearman was the overall under 18 winner, however, because of her ?very clear and comprehensive idea which was well written and described in detail,? said Mr. Mellows.

?She understood the problems of the Waterfront and captured the changes in tourism and how they affect the waterfront very well.? She will receive $2,000 in cash.

Christina Kempe and Dudley Warrington Thomas won $8,000 each for their entries in the amateur category.

Mr. Mellows said that their entries were ?comprehensive in their thinking and viewed the entire Hamilton waterfront as part of their solution.?

?The international jurors were impressed that a small country like Bermuda has produced an incredible range of creative ideas and a very large number of strong ideas,? Mr. Mellows said.

?The jurors noted that Bermuda was fortunate to have a community of talented professionals who were willing to to spend this level of effort and time on this competition.?

The display of entries will be up until April 3 when the winners will be handed their prizes and the People?s Choice award will be announced.