Call for Nominations: 2026 Preservation Merit Awards
Preservation Austin’s 66th Annual Preservation Merit Awards honor visionary approaches to preserving our city’s unique architectural, cultural, and environmental heritage. By recognizing outstanding individuals, businesses, organizations, and institutions, we hope to inspire others to carry on this important work.
Projects must be located within the City of Austin and completed between January 1, 2022 and the application due date of August 14, 2026.
PRESERVATION AWARDS: Preservation Awards honor the preservation, rehabilitation, and restoration of historic properties; outstanding infill and additions; the preservation of cultural landscapes; and sustainability initiatives that respect a property's historic character.
STEWARDSHIP AWARDS: Stewardship Awards honor ongoing efforts to care for, manage, and maintain historic resources.
SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARDS: Special Recognition Awards honor those who have exhibited leadership in preservation. This includes outstanding public service through advocacy, public projects, neighborhood preservation, or research; the craftspeople who maintain and restore our historic resources; educational programs, curricula, or informational tools that focus on preservation and history; and outstanding media coverage of preservation issues by reporters, writers, publishers, and publications.
GENERAL GUIDELINES
Projects must be located within the City of Austin and completed between January 1, 2022 and the application due date of August 14, 2026.
The application fee is $50. Please reach out to Rosa Fry at rosa@preservationaustin.org if you would like to request to have this fee waived due to hardship. Submission fees support our nonprofit's ability to present this special program.
All nominations must be complete and submitted digitally through this Google Form.
At least one representative image of the nominated project or individual must be submitted to rosa@preservationaustin.org via email.
Award selections will be made by a jury that includes preservation professionals, design professionals, and community stakeholders.
Nominations will be judged on the quality and difficulty of a nominee’s project or efforts; their impact on the community; and the degree to which they are innovative, pioneering, or serve as an example for future projects and efforts.
Within a given year there may be multiple awards given in any category and some categories might not have award winners.
Contacting jurors regarding active nominations will result in disqualification.
Award recipients will be notified by September 8, 2026.
Awards will be presented during our 66th Annual Preservation Merit Awards reception and cocktail party. Details regarding this event will be forthcoming.
Award recipients will receive two complimentary tickets to the event (please note: award recipients are the nominees, not the nominators).
Questions? Contact Programs Manager Rosa Fry at rosa@preservationaustin.org. All questions must be submitted by Wednesday, July 29.