ORLANDO, FL -- Thursday, February 23, 2017 marks the first U.S. National Tile Day, declared by the Registrar at National Day Calendar to be observed annually every February 23. National Tile Day was originated by Coverings' PR agency to help raise awareness of the benefits and beauty tile offers consumers. This effort is a lead-up to the show's major "Why Tile" campaign, which will be announced at Coverings -- taking place from April 4 to 7, 2017 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL. The following is a glimpse of a few of the numerous tile displays that will be showcased during the international stone and tile exhibition.

The top commercial honors went to installer KEPCO+ of Salt Lake City, UT, and designer Ross Nadeau of SWA Group in San Francisco, CA, for a massive water feature at City Creek Center, a mall in Salt Lake City. Each of the top honorees won a $1,000 cash grand prize. Nadeau and KEPCO+ earned the commercial grand prize with the stunning recreation of City Creek, a natural spring-fed stream that was moved underground a century ago to prevent flooding as Salt Lake City grew. The new above-ground, man-made creek bed, which runs through the City Creek Center mall, stretches over 12,000 feet and cascades over three waterfalls, the tallest of which is 18 feet high. Painstaking attention to detail was required for this immense project, as well as careful work to maintain the integrity of the waterproofing system.