Last night (Feb. 5), the Honorable Governor Owens presented Denver Public Schools (DPS) with the Second Annual Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation during the Colorado Historical Society’s 2004 Awards Ceremony.

DPS received the newly created annual award in honor of its rehabilitation of Dora Moore School, located on 9th and Corona, and for adopting proactive policies to preserve their historic school buildings.

The celebration, held at the Colorado History Museum, also included presentation of the 18th Annual Stephen H. Hart Awards recognizing eight outstanding individuals and projects that have impacted historic preservation in Colorado.

State legislators, preservationists, community activists and award recipients all gathered to celebrate the evening’s festivities, which included a catered reception, tours of museum exhibits and registration for Colorado Preservation, Inc.’s annual conference Saving Places 2004: The Business of Preservation.

Following are Colorado Historical Society’s 2004 Award recipients:

Second Annual Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation

• Denver Public Schools for Rehabilitation of Dora Moore School and Adoption of a Preservation Policy that Incorporates the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties

18th Annual Stephen H. Hart Awards
Professional Contributions to Historic Preservation:

• William H. Hornby for Contributions to the Preservation of Colorado's Heritage
• Daniel P. Quiat for Contributions to the Preservation of Colorado's Railroad History

Outstanding Historic Preservation Projects:

• Arkansas Valley Heritage and Arts Partnership, Preservation Efforts to Save Wiley School
• Grand Junction Downtown Development Authority, Restoration of the Reed Building
• Ken Caryl Ranch Master Association, Protection of Historic and Prehistoric Archaeological Sites
• Muriel L. MacGregor Charitable Trust, Preservation, Restoration and Interpretation of MacGregor Ranch
• Poudre Landmark Foundation Avery Guild, Restoration and Continuing Stewardship of the Avery House
• Gates Family Foundation, Creation of the William W. "Peter" Grant Endowment for Historic Preservation

Background
In 1986, the Colorado Historical Society began presenting the Stephen H. Hart Awards—named after Colorado’s first state historic preservation officer. The purpose of these annual awards is to recognize outstanding projects and individual achievements in historic preservation throughout Colorado. Yet as the list of nominations continued to grow each year, the Society’s Board of Directors found it more and more difficult to select just a few award recipients from the many worthy of recognition. As a result, the Society created a new award to recognize one exceptional project or individual each year. The first Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation was presented in 2003.

For more information, or to set up interviews, please contact Jennifer Cook, public relations advisor for the State Historical Fund-a program of the Colorado Historical Society-at 303-866-2049.