We promised the feel-good event of the year and the 2024 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Awards did not disappoint! Click the button below to view or download photographs from this year’s event.
Our event attendees and supporters received a print copy of the program. Click the button below to access a digital version and learn more about each of this year’s seventeen award honorees.
Guests entered the Zembo Shrine and were immediately awed by the imported tile on the floors and walls, the coffered, painted ceilings, exotic light fixtures and decorative keyhole arches. Our Shriner hosts (this year’s Chairman’s Award honorees) circulated in full Shriner regalia, complete with the glittery Zembo fez.
As the evening wrapped up, Executive Director Mindy Crawford observed
“As always, our annual Historic Preservation Awards event is a celebration of inspiration and dedication. This year, however, felt especially joyful. The energy in the room was palpable, with recipients and attendees alike expressing a shared sense of gratitude and camaraderie.
It was a privilege to witness such heartfelt support for one another’s preservation efforts. Together, we are building a stronger future for Pennsylvania’s historic places.”
Honor Awards
F. Otto Haas Award honoree Barbara Barksdale of Dauphin County was joined by friends and colleagues from Midland Cemetery and the statewide nonprofit Pennsylvania Hallowed Grounds as she accepted her award honoring outstanding achievements in historic preservation.
In accepting the award she said, “My ancestors, who are standing right here beside me—you can’t see them, but I do. They’re telling me, go ahead, Barbara, keep it up. You don’t need to have the awards or the pat on the back. We just need you to make sure that you’re telling our stories. And that’s my purpose in life, to make sure I take care of my people and to tell our stories, to tell the stories from the 400 years of us being in this here wonderful country, to say we did something. We help people.”
Charlene Donchez Mowers, longtime executive director of Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites, accepted the Henry A. Jordan Award for outstanding historic preservation efforts at the local level. The week before she was among the VIPs at a ceremony for the World Heritage International Recognition of Inscription of the Moravian Church heritage sites, with notable attendees including Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre; Richard Verma, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State; Courtney O’Donnell, U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO; and U.S. Representative Susan Wild.
Speaking to the audience about the 22 year journey to World Heritage recognition (joining Fallingwater and Independence Hall in Pennsylvania), Charlene said, “This inscription in July is not the end. Now we all have to work to keep this distinction. The responsibility for preserving the high degree of authenticity and integrity, as well as both the tangible and intangible values of a World Heritage Site, continue forever. Thank you to those individuals, institutions and governmental agencies that have supported the restoration and preservation efforts in Bethlehem over the centuries through their expertise, financial support, commitment and dedication. As everyone in this room knows, historic preservation is both very challenging and very important. During this long journey of working locally, nationally and internationally, and with other Moravian Church settlements around the world, it has been an incredible experience for me personally, filled with hope and optimism for the future of preservation.”
Modjeski Award for Excellence in Transportation Design, Preservation, and Archaeology
This award honors an exceptional effort within the transportation field that results in an improvement in transportation systems while respecting and preserving the best practices of compatible design and historic preservation principles. This year’s award, sponsored by Modjeski and Masters, honored The Cantini Mosaics 106 Consulting Parties, listed below (Allegheny County).
Honoring: City of Pittsburgh; PennDOT District 11; Federal Highway Administration; Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission; Lisa Cantini Seguin, daughter of artist Virgil Cantini; Melissa Marinaro, Director of the Italian American Program at the Heinz History Center; Brittany Reilly, Preservation Pittsburgh Modern Committee; Laura Ricketts, local historian and historic preservation advocate; Jesse Belfast, local historian and historic preservation advocate; Matthew Craig, Young Preservationists Association; Matthew Falcone, Preservation Pittsburgh; Sally Ann Kluz and Derek Reese, Office for Public Art (now Shiftworks Community + Public Arts Pittsburgh); Rob Pfaffmann and Lisa Haabestad, Pfaffmann + Associates; Sarah Minnaert, Tony Cavalline and Sarah Quinn, City of Pittsburgh Department of City Planning; Jeff Slack, Time & Place, LLC; Will Zavala, University of Pittsburgh
Mosaics Project: E. Holdings, Inc.; SB Thomas & Associates, Inc.; Landmarks SGA, LLC; McKay Lodge Art Conservation Laboratory; Wyatt Incorporated; Sargent Electric Company
The assemblage of individuals who worked together to save the Cantini Mosaics believed that this beautiful public artwork — created by Virgil Cantini (1919-2009) — needed to be relocated when threatened by a public works project that would have buried the pedestrian underpass where they were installed. The team made the case for the historic and artistic importance of the 28 artworks, created educational forums for sharing the information, and worked with agencies to create an agreement and plan for their re-installation for public enjoyment. (Read more about the project at the PHMC website.)
WHAT IS SECTION 106? The Section 106 process was created as part of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and requires federal agencies to consider the effects on historic properties of projects they carry out, assist, fund, permit, license, or approve. Section 106 gives the public a chance to weigh in on these matters before a final decision is made.
Leadership Awards
Emergency Response
In recognition of quick action to repair and/or preserve a historic resource after a threat or catastrophic event, such as fire, flooding, or extreme weather.
Laurel Hill Emergency Bridge Repair (Philadelphia County)
Honoring: Laurel Hill Cemetery; TranSystems; Loftus Construction
A bridge connecting two sections of the National Historic Landmark Laurel Hill Cemetery was struck by a truck moving along busy West Hunting Park Avenue. The repair was a complex undertaking due to the bridge’s function connecting two sections of the historic cemetery and the urgent need to reopen the avenue below. Damaged sections were partially dismantled, reusable materials were salvaged, and the masonry was reconstructed using original stones and custom-cut replacements.
Grassroots Advocacy
In recognition of innovative examples of assistance that helped communities protect and preserve the historic places that matter to them.
James A. Hill (Allegheny County)
When Preservation Pittsburgh kicked off the fundraising to restore the Peabody Memorial to Soldiers, located outside the Barack Obama Academy of International Studies, James Hill took his role as chairperson above and beyond. Not only was he instrumental in raising the necessary funding, but he also engaged the school’s students in the history and conservation process to create new appreciation and understanding of the long-neglected artwork. The unveiling of the restored monument took place exactly 100 years to the hour that it was originally dedicated in 1924, at a ceremony attended by more than 100 students, alumni, veterans and others.
Union County Historical Society Gallery & Museum (Union County)
When former museum properties went up for sale in Lewisburg, the Union County Historical Society made a plan for the future, purchased and re-utilized the buildings for the community good.
Public Impact
For excellence in using a historic building as a catalyst to enrich a community. Includes examples of small business or adaptive reuse.
WCR Center for the Arts (former Women’s Club of Reading) (Berks County)
With a mission of being an inclusive space that provides diverse cultural offerings, the WCR Center for the Arts also made physical accessibility a priority with a new addition that offers wheelchair access to the 150-year-old building and performance spaces.
West Shore Theatre, New Cumberland (Cumberland County)
Honoring: Friends of the West Shore Theatre, Inc.; Chris Dawson Architect; Lobar Associates
Community support rallied to rehab this downtown movie theatre, preserving historic features and creating flexible venue space. The glowing restored marquee is symbolic of its role as a revitalization anchor.
Construction Awards
Rehabilitation
A and Indiana (Former Hoyle, Harrison & Kaye Textile Mill)
(Philadelphia County)
Honoring: Impact Services; BartonPartners Architects; Clemens Construction Company, Inc.; McHugh Engineering; O’Donnell & Naccarato; Delta Development Group, Inc.; Becker & Frondorf; Marcus Reinvestment Strategies, LLC
New owner Impact Services works in the Kensington Neighborhood of Philadelphia to help people re-enter the workforce, train for jobs, and build community. Over the last two decades, the organization has built housing in an effort to end veteran homelessness. In a multi-phased project, this former mill building was rehabilitated, restoring its historic features and providing affordable housing.
Berks County Trust Company Building
35 North 6th Street, Reading (Berks County)
Honoring: Shuman Development Group; Louis Masciotti Architect and Drafting Solutions; Delta Development Group, Inc.
Despite being one of downtown Reading’s best examples of Beaux Art architecture, this building sat vacant since 2012 and suffered from neglect and water damage as a result of frozen pipes. The project team restored the property and returned it to productive public use (including a busy food court), including repair of five exterior limestone balconies and the glorious Corinthian columns and coffered ceiling in the main lobby.
General William Thompson House, “Soldiers Retreat”
(Cumberland County)
Honoring:The late James P Howell and Gwen Howell; Kevin Hollowell Restoration; Robert Hippensteel, Sr. and Robert Hippensteel, Jr.; Christine Musser; Rider’s Custom Woodworking; Rick Rieghard
Some preservation projects aren’t really about the building, but more about the love behind the project. In this case, the rehabilitation of “Soldier’s Retreat,” an 18th century homestead, is about the love a couple had for a property, for each other, and for the team that helped realize their dream of reviving the historic character of the home by removing a Victorian addition for new construction more in keeping with the character of the house, recreating missing features, and discreetly adding updated amenities.
Laros Silk Mill
(Northampton County)
Honoring: VM Development Group, LLC; Artefact, Inc.; Strunk-Albert Engineering; Mulhern Consulting Engineers; Hofmeister Engineering; Lock Ridge Engineering
Rehabilitation of the Laros Silk Mill, with new residential apartments on the second and third floors in addition to ground floor commercial, has created an active community that celebrates Bethlehem’s textile industry history and boosts the economy of a marginalized neighborhood.
Mount Carbon Bowstring Truss Bridge
(Schuylkill County)
Honoring: Schuylkill River Greenways National Heritage Area; PennDOT District 5-0; Gannett Fleming; Susquehanna Civil; Fabcor, Inc.; Schuylkill County Municipal Authority
One of only three bowstring trusses in Pennsylvania, the Mount Carbon bridge was rehabilitated with the goal of relocating the bridge five miles north to serve as a multi-use recreational crossing, a vital link in the planned extension of the 120-mile Schuylkill River Greenways trail.
Mt Tabor Preservation Project
13 Cedar Street, Mt. Holly Springs (Cumberland County)
Honoring: Mt. Tabor Preservation Project Board; Mount Holly Springs Borough; SBA Architects; Halteman Home Improvements; Bobbie Jean Owens Window Restoration
Added to Pennsylvania At Risk in 2018, this church building has been brought back to life. The delicate condition of the building and its original construction methods required creative solutions. Determination to save a place identified to the descendant community as “past the point of saving” took an incredible force of will.
Robert N. C. Nix, Sr. Federal Building
900 Market Street (Philadelphia County)
Honoring: General Services Administration; Department of State; Mills + Schnoering Architects, LLC; The Bedwell Company; Keast & Hood; Henry Adams; Jensen Hughes; K2 Audio, LLC (now Salas O’Brien); The Lighting Practice; AFG Group, Inc.; LVCK, LLC (now LVCK – A Beyer Blinder Belle Studio); Becker & Frondorf; Materials Conservation Co.; Page Conservation, Inc.; Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA)
Once home to the U.S. Post Office, this elegant Art Moderne style building was transformed into the new home for the Philadelphia Passport Agency. A priority for the rehabilitation was the preservation of the voluminous spaces and finishes. The historic lobby continues to serve as a public space, now with accommodations for queuing and circulation, security screening, and waiting areas.
Woodford Mansion
2300 North 33rd Street (Philadelphia County)
Honoring: Naomi Wood Trust; Mark B. Thompson Associates, PC
This National Historic Landmark serves as a house museum, displaying the Naomi Wood collection of 18th-century furniture and decorative arts. The rehabilitation sought to create a more historic presentation of two rooms and expand the museum’s narrative around slavery and servitude, while also updating two services areas: a kitchen and a bathroom.
Thank you to everyone who attended to celebrate these preservation heroes. And a special thanks for the show of support from our 2024 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Awards sponsors!
A. Roy Smith
Mrs. Henry A. Jordan
Gannett Fleming | TranSystems
Hammer Creek Enterprises, LLC
Margaret B. Wallis
Laurel Hill Cemetery
Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia
Susquehanna National Heritage Area
Anthony H. Visco, Jr. Architects
Zeller Preservation