Each year, the Kentucky Heritage Council awards various preservation awards to individuals and groups who have advocated, promoted, supported or plain out “did” preservation work in Kentucky. The biggest award, the Ida Lee Willis, is the highest honor bestowed.
Ida Lee Willis was the first lady of Kentucky (her husband, Gov. Simeon Willis, served from 1943-47) and was “directly responsible for saving the Vest-Lindsey House in Frankfort. She was named the first state historic preservation officer (SHPO) in 1966 after the enactment of the National Preservation Act.
The winner of this year’s Ida Lee Willis Memorial Historic Preservation Award is K. Norman Berry of Louisville. A fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Berry “served as architects for more than 20 significant building preservation projects along this street. His firm was also awarded commissions to serve as architect for three of Kentucky’s most significant historic structures – the Kentucky State Capitol and Governor’s Mansion in Frankfort, and Federal Hill in Bardstown.”
The awards will be given out today, May 27, 2015, at a ceremony at the Governor’s Mansion. Visit heritage.ky.gov of more details.
Service to Preservation Awards will go to:
· The Fulton Conway Building, 850 W. Main St., Louisville, and the owner, National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, for careful rehabilitation of this former tobacco warehouse through developing design concepts to preserve the historic integrity of this circa 1890 building
· The V.A. Kaltenbrun Building, 329-335 St. Clair St., Frankfort, in recognition of efforts by owners John and Martha Gray to restore this 19th century commercial structure following a devastating fire
· Shotgun Row, 315-327 Orchard St., Covington, and the Center for Great Neighborhoods, for rehabilitating a row of historic frame shotgun houses in the Lee-Holman Historic District into affordable live/work spaces for artists
Service to Preservation Awards will go to:
· Friends of Eastern Cemetery, a volunteer, nonprofit organization, for their work cleaning up and carefully restoring one of Louisville’s oldest public cemeteries and reacquainting the public with the historic legacy of those interred there
· The Living Archaeology Weekend Steering Committee, which for more than 25 years has planned and presented this annual two-day event focusing on past technologies of Kentucky’s Native and pioneer peoples, reaching more than 35,000 fifth graders and visitors
· James and Maxine Cass, for their leadership in helping acquire and preserve Camp Wildcat Civil War Battlefield in Laurel County and establishing the nonprofit Camp Wildcat Preservation Foundation
Grassroots Preservation Awards will go to:
· Meridzo Center Ministries, for Lamp House Coffee on Main Street in Lynch, an iconic 1921 building associated with coal mining that has been rehabilitated into a community coffee shop as part of its local ministry
· Snivley Chapel Restoration Project, for volunteer efforts to save and preserve this circa 1853 frame church in Pike County, one of the oldest recorded original chapel buildings in eastern Kentucky.
Congratulations to all and thank you for your commitment to preserving Kentucky’s rich heritage!