(Photo caption: Projects that won River Cities Preservation Awards in Covington last year included The Hellmann Creative Center [top], 530 Main St. [bottom left] and The Boone Block [bottom right].)
COVINGTON, Ky. - The City of Covington wants to honor the people and projects who in 2017 demonstrated outstanding efforts to preserve, maintain, fix up and reuse one of its strongest assets - its historic properties.
Acting simultaneously with its neighboring cities of Newport, Bellevue and Ludlow, the City is seeking nominations for the annual River Cities Preservation Awards.
In Covington, projects and individuals qualify in one of eight categories, which are outlined below.
“The categories reflect the diversity of historic preservation and how it’s put into practice,” said Emily Ahouse, preservation and planning specialist for the City. “They range from large-scale, adaptive reuse of unique properties down to homeowners who paid special attention to how they restored their windows, painted or tuck-pointed their brick.”
The deadline for nominations is the end of April, and the process isn’t difficult.
Just write a paragraph explaining the project and why it deserves consideration for an award and e-mail your words to Ahouse at
eahouse@covingtonky.gov. Include photographs if you can, because they’ll call attention to the project, which must have been completed in 2017.
Nominators can also call Ahouse at (859) 292-2171 with questions.
Winners will receive an engraved glass plaque adorned with a picture of their project at a ceremony in Newport on May 24, which is National Preservation Month. Winners will be notified ahead of time.
Not every award is given every year, but if the winners throughout the years were collected in a book, it would be readily apparent why projects and buildings in Covington regularly earn national attention and win state and national awards.
“Covington is blessed to have a concentration of historic architecture reflected not only in our downtown commercial buildings but also in many of our residential neighborhoods,” Ahouse said. “It gives us a rich sense of place that can’t be found in just any city.”
The award categories:
- Exterior Restoration-Residential: This category acknowledges historic residential structures that have restored the exterior of the building in which the architect, contractor or owner expressed exceptional care in respecting the historic fabric and/or setting of the property. These projects tend to have sufficient and intact historic materials and detailing that would warrant a restoration.
- Exterior Restoration-Mixed Use/Commercial: This category acknowledges historic mixed-use or commercial structures that have restored the exterior of the building in which the architect, contractor or owner expressed exceptional care in respecting the historic fabric and/or setting of the property. These projects tend to have sufficient and intact historic materials and detailing that would warrant a restoration.
- Rehabilitation-Residential:This category recognizes successful rehabilitation of historic residential structures. These projects offer a creative solution for rehabilitating a building when much of the historic material is either too deteriorated to save or is missing altogether.
- Rehabilitation-Mixed-Use Commercial:This category recognizes successful rehabilitation of historic mixed-use or commercial structures. These projects offer a creative solution for rehabilitating a building when much of the historic material is either too deteriorated to save or is missing altogether.
- Adaptive Reuse:This category recognizes a successful Adaptive Reuse of a property and recognizes the excellence in design of new and different use(s) for an existing building in which the historic materials and fabric of a property were retained and used as a prime element in the design of the project.
- Project Excellence:This award recognizes a project - either residential, mixed use or commercial - that demonstrates an outstanding achievement in historic preservation, restoration or rehabilitation. This award is given to a project that has a significant impact on Covington and would be considered a leading example of preservation in Covington. Priority is given to projects that save a potentially threatened building.
- Stewardship:This award recognizes individuals or organizations with long-term dedication to the preservation of a community or of a property. The nomination should include examples of projects completed or programs instituted and a general discussion of the individual’s or group’s commitment to historic preservation.
- Karen and Peter Rafuse Memorial Award:This award was created to honor and celebrate individual dedication to the preservation of Covington’s architectural and cultural heritage. The award’s namesakes, Karen and Peter Rafuse, are credited with invigorating the City’s Historic Preservation Efforts.