Preservation Austin Celebrates 2023 Preservation Merit Award Winners
AUSTIN, TX (September 21, 2023) – Preservation Austin is delighted to recognize the ambitious, innovative, and community-minded winners of their 63rd Annual Preservation Merit Awards. Our twelve winners for 2023 represent the wide-ranging efforts to build community and enhance historic spaces across Austin.
Established in 1960, this juried program celebrates the hard work and visionary approaches of those preserving Austin’s architectural, cultural, and environmental heritage. “Our 2023 award recipients speak to Austin’s diverse past and inspiring present,” says Lindsey Derrington, Preservation Austin’s Executive Director. “We have the privilege of sharing these projects with our community to advance our shared understanding of the places that have shaped Austin’s culture and history, and of the people whose advocacy and research continues to bring this heritage to life.”
This year’s winning brick-and-mortar projects include Uptown Sports, the gorgeous rehabilitation of a long-neglected neighborhood landmark in East Austin, and the admirable undertaking of replacing over 800 windows at the Austin State Supported Living Center! Special Recognition Awards honor the likes of the Original L.C. Anderson High School Preservation Team and the City of Austin’s Translating Community History initiative, both of which successfully share undertold Austin histories with the broader community.
Preservation Austin brings together professionals from the preservation, design, and nonprofit worlds to serve on its jury each year and to select exemplary projects with community impact. The 2023 Preservation Merits Awards Jury included:
Harrison Eppright, Manager of Visitor Services & Tour Ambassador, Visit Austin
Meredith Johnson, Preservation Planner, Johnson Planning & Preservation LLC
Ayshea Khan, Equity & Inclusion Program Manager, City of Austin Equity Office
Ruby Oram, Assistant Professor of Practice, Department of History, Texas State University
Glenn Reed, Chief Architect, Historic Sites Division, Texas Historical Commission
Recipients will be honored at our Preservation Merit Awards Celebration at Central Machine Works on Tuesday, November 14 from 6 pm to 9 pm. The organization’s annual celebration is the only one of its kind to honor the everyday Austinites working hard to preserve Austin’s heritage in diverse, exciting, and unexpected ways.
Ticket sales and sponsorship opportunities are available now at the link below. Individual tickets are $100 for Preservation Austin members and $125 for non-members. All proceeds from the event help sustain our non-profit’s advocacy and educational programming year-round.
2023 Preservation Merit Award Recipients
Preservation Awards
AUSTIN STATE SUPPORTED LIVING CENTER
Recipient: Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Preservation Award for Rehabilitation
BATTLE HALL
Recipient: The University of Texas at Austin
Preservation Award for Restoration
ST. DAVID’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
Recipient: Episcopal Church Council of the Diocese of Texas
Preservation Award for Restoration
UPTOWN SPORTS CLUB
Recipient: Jason Jones, James Moody, Aaron Franklin, Eric de Valpine, and Tenaya Hills
Preservation Award for Rehabilitation
WINDSOR ROAD HOUSE
Recipient: Birgit Enstrom and Hugh Jefferson Randolph
Preservation Award for Rehabilitation
Stewardship Awards
HUSTON-TILLOTSON UNIVERSITY
Stewardship Award for the Preservation of its Historic Campus
U.S. GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
Stewardship Award for LBJ Suite Furnishings Conservation
ROBIN SHEPHERD
Stewardship Award for 5 birds dwellings llc.
Special Recognition Awards
BLACK AUSTIN TOURS
Recipient: Javier Wallace
Special Recognition Award for Education
ORIGINAL L.C. ANDERSON HIGH SCHOOL
Recipients:
Original L.C. Anderson Alumni Association (led by Barbara Spears-Corbett, President; Leroy Bookman, Eugenia Gaines, and Thelma Williams)
Rebekah Dobrasko (Public Historian/Volunteer)
Austin Independent School District (led by Matias Segura, Interim Superintendent and Operations Department)
Special Recognition Award for Public Service
TO EMANCIPATE: FROM SLAVERY TO FREEDOM
Austin Parks and Recreation Department, Oakwood Cemetery Chapel
Special Recognition Award for Education
TRANSLATING COMMUNITY HISTORY
City of Austin Planning Department, Historic Preservation Office
Special Recognition Award for Outstanding Media Coverage, Scholarship, and Planning