2011 Awards for Excellence

With the generous support of our year-round sponsors, the 2011 Awards for Excellence reception and ceremony was held June 2, 2011, at the historic Jayhawk Tower in Topeka.

Our generous sponsors included:

Platinum Sponsor

Historic Preservation Partners

Gold Sponsor

Review Windows

Marsh & Company, CPA

Treanor Architects designed and produced the event program.

Lawrence Carnegie Library, Lawrence

Medallion Award for Rehabilitation to the City of Lawrence

The Old Lawrence City Library (Lawrence Carnegie Library) was one of 66 Carnegie libraries built in Kansas. The building was constructed in 1904 and an addition was built in 1937. By the 1960’s the community had outgrown the building and in 1972 the city library moved to its new location leaving the Old Lawrence City Library building vacant. From 1974 until 2002, the Lawrence Arts Center occupied the building and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

Treanor Architects with AB Bradley Construction Co., Inc., Professional Engineering Consultants, P.A. and the City of Lawrence designed the rehabilitation project, which included structural assessment and stabilization, interior rehabilitation, and a sensitively designed rear addition providing an accessible entrance, elevator, and bathrooms.

Lowell Elementary School, Kansas City

Medallion Award for Rehabilitation to Historic Lowell Lofts, LLC

Lowell Elementary School is located in the Riverview Neighborhood in Kansas City, Kansas. The school is the neighborhood landmark in and otherwise residential area and was nominated to the National Register as being representative of the renowned regional architect W.W. Rose's work displaying an unrestrained interpretation of the Classical Revival style with Beaux Arts decorative elements and incorporating towers into the overall theme.

Constructed in 1897, this former school is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The building was severely deteriorated before adaptation into 26 apartments for low-income senior citizens.  Byers Gunn and Hart Architects collaborated with Gastinger Walker Harden Architects and Shift Modern on the rehabilitation design and Foutch Brothers LLC along with T&G Custom Millwork served as the project contractor.  Additional assistance was provided by Hired Hand Communication LLC, Community National Bank, Spencer Fane Britt & Broun, Commerce Bank and Historic Preservation Partners, Inc.

St. Joseph Church, Mount Hope

Honor Award for interior restoration to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wichita

The existing St. Joseph Church is the third structure to be built at this location as expansion of the local congregation required it in 1913. Built of red brick and trimmed with Carthage stone, the structure is 46 feet wide and 130 feet long with Roman Renaissance and Gothic architecture combined. The Andale “Globe” featured the dedication day in a special issue: “Let us say a few words of the great work that St. Joseph parish and its worthy priest have lately accomplished. It is the building and dedication of one of the finest Catholic churches in Kansas…”

Tragedy struck on February 3, 2010 when an arson set fire to the Altar of St. Joseph consuming it and damaging adjacent plaster, stained glass and decorative paint.  This award honors the sensitive interior cleaning and restoration completed by Restoration Consultant/Contractor, Robert Elliott, and General Contractor, Dondlinger Construction, stained glass repair subcontractor Hoefer Custom Stained Glass, Altar of St. Joseph reconstruction, Carpentry Innovations and smoke and water damage restoration by Advance Catastrophe Technologies.

1120 Rhode Island, Lawrence

Honor Award for Rehabilitation to Lawrence Preservation Alliance

The building at 1120 Rhode Island, which was listed on the National Register of Historic places on July 14, 2004, is a contributing property in the North Rhode Island Historic District and a remnant of a block once known as “Merchants Row”. This structure is a good example of vernacular architecture cobbled together over time by property owners who had to “make do” with their building plans. The original inner core structure was a subsistence-level cabin with the first addition in 1888 and more additions in the 1900’s. The accessory structure, which has an importance regarding scale of alleys, has been returned to its historic use as a storage facility.

Long vacant and deteriorated, this residence was a contributing resource in the North Rhode Island Street National Register Historic District.  The successful partnership between the Lawrence Preservation Alliance and Tenants to Homeowners provided much-needed affordable housing.  Additional assistance was provided by Dan Hermreck, Residential Design Consultant, Kenneth A. Peters, Builder, Inc., Mike Goans Renovation and Repair, Dennis Brown Painting and Billy Construction.

 Sedan Opera House, Sedan

Preservation Stewardship Award to Roger Floyd

Constructed around 1900, this historic commercial building housed a hardware store with an opera house on the second floor. The street level was the site of a car dealership, a tank company in World War II and the first hardware store in the area, known as Ackarman Hardware, until approximately 1980 when it was sold to the City of Sedan. The Emmet Kelly Museum moved in to the opera house and currently occupies it. The upper portion of the building, besides being the location for opera house entertainment, has been a used by church organizations, theatre groups, and the Ancient Order of Workmen. It has also been used as a skating rink, for storage and now as a location for frequent haunted house attractions.

Heckman & Associates completed the architectural design work and Sutherland Builders completed the rehabilitation work, which included the reconstruction of an appropriate cornice along the top of the building.

St. Luke African Methodist Episcopal Church, Lawrence

Preservation Stewardship Award to St. Luke AME Church

The St. Luke African Methodist Episcopal Church, built in the style of 20th century ecclesiastical Gothic Revival Architecture, is an icon of Old East Lawrence. Constructed in 1910, this church has been an anchor in Lawrence's African American community for 101 years. In particular, during times of racial discrimination and segregation in the early 20th century and as church members took part in 1950’s and 1960’s protest marches.  

St. Luke was a pivotal influence in the young life of internationally acclaimed poet and writer Langston Hughes. He is quoted as saying “...I went to church and Sunday school...and I was very much moved, always by the...rhythms of the Negro church...of the spirituals...of the sermons...and when I began to write poetry, that influence came through.” He is also quoted as saying “The first church I remember is the A.M.E. Church on the corner of Ninth...and New York. That is where I went to Sunday School where I almost became converted, which I tell about in The Big Sea...my first autobiography.”

Hernly Associates along with Hughes Consulting Engineering, P.A. and KH Engineering Group and Wilcott Construction carried out structural stabilization of the roof structure and revealed the vaulted ceiling of the interior sanctuary.

H. W. Gates Funeral Home, Kansas City, Wyandotte County

Preservation Stewardship Award to MPM Heartland House

The H.W. Gates Funeral Home was built in the Neoclassical style from a design by the Kansas City architect Fred S. Wilson for local undertakers Horatio and Mary Gates. The Neoclassical style was popular for buildings of this function for various reasons: to convey business importance in community; the single-family building form evoked an air of domesticity and comfort for grieving families; and the large size accommodated both the business needs of the funeral parlor, as well as living quarters for the undertaker’s family. This was the third home of the H.W. Gates Funeral Home, a family business run by three generations of the Gates family for nearly a century.

 Judy Billings, Lawrence

Preservation Advocacy Award

As director of the Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau and the chair of the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area planning committee, Ms. Billings has created an effective partnership between tourism and preservation. Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area is an initiative that enhances, preserves, and promotes the Territorial, Civil War, and civil rights stories of 29 Kansas counties. The Preservation Advocacy Award is for commitment to Historic Preservation through Advocacy Leadership for the creation of Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area.

Kansas Aviation Museum, Wichita

Preservation Advocacy Award

The original Wichita Air Terminal and subsequently the main administration building for McConnell Air Force Base and then administration and training facilities for the Kansas Air National Guard had fallen into disrepair with imminent demolition.

Closed in 1982 and severely deteriorated, this historic Kansas aviation landmark was threatened with destruction when a small group of aviation enthusiasts worked to secure the building from the federal government and subsequently restored the building for its current use as the Kansas Aviation Museum. The Preservation Advocacy Award is for the Kansas Aviation Museum’s commitment to Historic Preservation through Advocacy Leadership for the restoration and renovation of the Historic Administrative Building, Wichita Municipal Airport.

Emporia Main Street, Emporia

Preservation Advocacy Award

During the 2009 Legislative Session, the State Historic Tax Credit Program was cut. Because of outdated information, it was essential that better information regarding the economic impact of historic preservation projects on local economics be provided.

Emporia Main Street was a key player in the advocacy team that worked lobby the Kansas legislature to restore the historic rehabilitation tax credit program during the spring of 2010. Emporia Main Street assumed role of legislative liaison and collected critical economic impact data statewide, documenting the economic benefit of the tax credit program. Their work was invaluable to the passage of SB340, which reinstated the Kansas rehabilitation tax credit program. The Preservation Advocacy Award is for Emporia Main Street’s commitment to Historic Preservation through Advocacy Leadership for the State Rehabilitation Tax Credit Program.