While many were gearing up for New Year celebrations late last week, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul honored nine projects and one preservationist with New York State Historic Preservation Awards for 2022.
Among the honorees are a community effort to preserve sites important to Spiritualism in a Western New York town, and initiatives to rehabilitate historic bridges across two rural counties. Three projects, including two in New York City, received a historic building rehabilitation award.
The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has presented the State Historic Preservation Awards each year since 1980 to recognize organizations and individuals that protect and revitalize New York’s history and heritage.
“Preserving notable landmarks across New York allows us to celebrate our shared history and honor our collective past,” Governor Hochul said in a press release. “I congratulate this year’s recipients on their efforts to capitalize on our historic and cultural resources to build a brighter future for our state.”
Without futher ado, this year’s 2022 State Historic Preservation Awards recipients are:
Outstanding Contributions to Historic Preservation
Cynthia Howk
Cynthia Howk is recognized for Outstanding Contributions to Historic Preservation. Her decades-long career and dedication to historic preservation planning, mentorship, and community engagement has had an incalculable impact on the state’s cultural and historic resources.
Excellence in Historic Preservation Documentation
East Harlem South/ El Barrio Reconnaissance Level Survey
New York
The East Harlem South/ El Barrio Reconnaissance Level Survey is recognized for Excellence in Historic Preservation Documentation. As the first comprehensive historic/cultural resources survey in this part of New York City, the report is an important tool in understanding the built environment and cultural significance of the neighborhood. It will also serve as a model reconnaissance level survey report for other communities statewide.
Excellence in Historic Building Rehabilitation
F.R. Bain House
Poughkeepsie, New York
The F.R. Bain House is recognized for Excellence in Historic Building Rehabilitation. The project is the culmination of a multi-year effort by homeowner Kimberlee Breden to diligently restore her historic 1888 Queen Anne–style home by utilizing the Historic Homeownership Rehabilitation Credit.
Excellence in Historic Preservation Consultation
Historic Bridge Rehabilitation Projects
Wayne and Wyoming counties, New York
Cross-collaborative efforts to thoughtfully and creatively revive historic bridges—specifically the Schoellkopf Road Bridge in Wyoming County and the Quaker/ O’Neil Road Bridge over the Erie Canal in Macedon, Wayne County—are recognized with the Excellence in Historic Preservation Consultation award.
Excellence in Nonprofit Achievement
Jay Estate Gardens, Jay Heritage Center
Rye, New York
The Jay Estate Gardens at the Jay Heritage Center is recognized for Excellence in Nonprofit Achievement. The transformational design of the gardens not only reflects the historic context, but emphasizes an intentionality to restore native species and original voices and to cultivate an appreciation and understanding of sustainable landscapes through partnerships and public outreach.
Excellence in Community Achievement
Lily Dale Assembly Historic District
Lily Dale, New York
Lily Dale Assembly Historic District is recognized for Excellence in Community Achievement. The effort to nominate this community for its historic contributions to Spiritualism and the women’s rights movement was spearheaded by community members whose advocacy and persistence successfully identified more than 200 historic resources for the district, which is now listed on the National and State Registers of Historic Places.
Excellence in OPRHP Project Achievement
Niagara River Gorge Access Stairway Rehabilitation Projects
Niagara Falls, New York
The Niagara River Gorge Access Stairway Rehabilitation Projects at Devil’s Hole and Whirlpool State Parks is recognized for Excellence in OPRHP (Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation) Achievement. The projects blended historic preservation with utility and respected the historic stone stair design while prioritizing safety improvements.
Excellence in Historic Building Rehabilitation
Old Snell Hall
Potsdam, New York
Old Snell Hall is recognized for Excellence in Historic Building Rehabilitation for a highly visible reinvestment project in the heart of Potsdam that adopted a successful historic preservation model and breathed life into an underutilized community resource by transforming it into a new mixed-use space.
Pier 57
New York
Pier 57 is recognized for Excellence in Historic Building Rehabilitation. This adaptive reuse project of a historic pier in New York City is a unique first example of preservation work for a structure type that is iconic to the city’s history. The pioneering vision, made possible through New York State and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits, now blends innovative construction technology from the 1950s with a cohesive contemporary design.
T Building
Queens, New York
The T Building is recognized for Excellence in Historic Building Rehabilitation. In addition to creating much-needed supportive housing and space for local community services this adaptive reuse project, which was made possible through New York State and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits, restored many of the building’s original Art Moderne–style features and is a remarkable illustration of revitalized architecture.
The mission of the New York State Division for Historic Preservation (DHP) is to create meaningful connections to the dynamic history of the state for all residents and visitors and the Division is committed to protecting historic and cultural resources. Part of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the DHP strives to raise awareness of the value of historic places for future generations and to expand the complex narratives in order to tell a more complete story that represents the diversity of the state’s people, both past and present. Learn more about the full scope of the Division’s work online.
