On May 10, 2001, Memphis Heritage and the Memphis Landmarks Commission held their 25th annual preservation awards. This year's awards, truly a joint effort with a unified reviewing committee and awards categories, were titled the Memphis Preservation Awards. The ceremony was held at St. Agnes Academy, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary, in the academy's new performing arts theater, Siena Hall.   The awards began with welcoming remarks by Susan Caldwell, St. Agnes alumnae president, who described the academyís history as an institution founded by Dominican nuns who traveled by flatboat down the Mississippi River to start a school for young ladies in Memphis in 1851.  Ms. Caldwell showed slides of historic St. Agnes Academy on Vance near downtown. The school was housed in the former residence of General Coe until 1901, at which time the house was replaced with a grand new building at the corner of Vance and Orleans. 

The school was enlarged in 1911 with the addition of two wings, one of which housed the chapel and 13 stained glass windows which have recently been restored and installed in the academyís new chapel. Over time, St. Agnes expanded into the nearby homes of several of Memphis' most prominent families, including the Dr. D. T. Porter and Jacob L. Goldsmith houses, two of the grand homes that once lined Vance Avenue.

In 1951, after the Vance/Orleans area became more commercial than residential,St. Agnes Academy moved to a new home on Walnut Grove near Mendenhall. Its original building on this site, a three-story colonial revival-style structure, is now 50 years old, and a large addition encompassing the theater, chapel and offices was recently constructed. It was in this building that the 2001 Memphis Preservation Awards were presented.

The Mayor's This Old House Award was given to Bill and Carol Mathis and Archimania Architects for their work restoring three cottages at 372, 376 and 378 Mulberry Street, in the South Main Street Historic District.

One of these houses was literally moments away from condemnation when a Landmarks staff member suggested rehabilitating them using federal preservation tax credits. Bill and Carol Mathis, who had never attempted a renovation project before, waded right in, and in the process completely transformed the three Victorian shotgun houses while retaining most of the original interior and exterior features.  On the exterior, the original milled siding was salvaged and moved to the front facades, where it was used to restore the sunburst detailing on the gable ends. Recessed side porches were enclosed to provide additional closet and pantry space on the interior.  The side elevations were covered with cementitious siding to match the original siding. New porches, in a simplified style, were constructed on the front.

The jurors especially admired the original fireplaces, four-panel doors with transoms, hardwood floors and beadboard wainscoting, which were retained on the interiors. The original three-room plans were left intact and were transformed into delightful living spaces. The Mathises used several financing schemes for the project, including a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) and a façade loan through the Center City Commission and federal investment tax credits. The houses are now fully occupied at market rate, and the Mathises have begun work renovating the neighboring brick tenement buildings.
 

The jurors chose a regal old structure for this year's Residential Rehabilitation Award, presenting it to Scott Blake and Mark Johnson for their work renovating a 135-year-old Italianate townhouse at 669 Jefferson, in the Victorian Village Historic District.Taking advantage of low-interest loans and tax breaks from the Center City Commission, as well as federal preservation investment tax credits, Blake and Johnson converted this townhouse into a two-unit luxury guesthouse. The exterior appearance was restored by a fresh coat of brick-colored paint and by replacing elements such as the cast window hoods, which feature elaborate shell motifs. On the interior, the buildingís unusual features, such as curved walls, plaster moldings and differing floor levels were retained and accentuated, while compatible new elements such as fireplace surrounds were added.

The renovation of the 1913 William R. Moore dry goods building into Toyota Center received this year's Paul Gruenburg Commercial Rehabilitation Award. This historic eight-story warehouse in downtown Memphis was rehabilitated for use as a 200,000 square foot office building.

The exterior of the building was renovated by repointing the brick masonry and using a chemical paint stripper to restore the brick to its original finish. The lower two floors of the exterior were completely restored. 
Bricked-in window openings on the side facades were reopened and new metal windows to match the profiles of the original wood windows were installed on the upper floors. On the interior, a shiny new granite, stainless steel and mahogany vestibule was constructed. 

Throughout the building, the rows of original cast concrete columns were retained and left visible to keep the historic warehouse appearance. The restored building not only looks great, it is surprisingly functional, as it also houses the high-efficiency heating and cooling system for the entire four-block ballpark complex.  An elevated skyway on the rear of the building connects it to AutoZone Park.

 A Certificate of Merit in the Paul Gruenburg Commercial Rehabilitation category was presented to Phil and Terry Woodard. The Woodards have made significant contributions to the South Main Street Historic District, having single-handedly renovated almost the entire 500-block of South Main. Their latest accomplishment is the rehabilitation of 505 South Main St., continuing the historic mixed-use pattern of combining ground floor retail with residential units. The building houses a vibrant art gallery on the ground level and five one-bedroom loft apartments above and behind. Particularly noteworthy is the amount of historic material adaptively reused in the apartments. For instance, in one unit, the original wooden grate around the elevator shaft was reused as the balcony for the sleeping loft.
 
The 2001 Institutional/Public Building Rehabilitation Award was presented to Larry and Gayle Martin of VRC Corporation for giving new life to historic Brunswick School. The Martins and their staff completed most of the renovation themselves, with assistance from Architecture, Incorporated and Nightwine Construction. Brunswick School, designed by Memphis architects Mahan and Broadwell and located at 8760 Baylor Road, was constructed in 1920 and was added onto in 1950. VRC's renovation retained the floor plan of the brick, one-story building, converting former classrooms into executive offices and reusing the original restrooms. Original features such as blackboards, cubbies, stairway balustrades and the schoolís marble dedication plaque have been retained. The mezzanine-level auditorium and stage are now used as the corporationís education center. A few of the original schoolhouse hallway fixtures were salvaged, and other antique and reproduction fixtures were purchased to match. The result is a corporate headquarters that feels remarkably like a historic school, inspiring tender feelings in the hearts of business associates and school alumni, alike. And, this award aligned perfectly with this yearís National Historic Preservation Week theme of "Restore, Renew, Rediscover Your Historic Neighborhood Schools."

The residential New Construction award was given to Archimania P.C.Architects and Avery-Gilliam Co., Inc., for the construction of 1699 Overton Park. The neighborhood had just about given up hope for this narrow corner lot at Overton Park and Evergreen, which unlike other lots in the Midtown Corridor West had never had a house on it. Archimania designed a narrow, telescoping house to fit the site and preserve large trees. The house itself looks like an evolved farmhouse, not unlike some of the nearby older houses in what was once rural Memphis. An upstairs dormer and a portion of the rear porch are sided, contrasting with the brick massing of the rest of the house and appearing as if they were added over time. But the construction of this all-new house made an immediate impact on the historic Evergreen neighborhood, worthy of an award.

AutoZone Park was presented the New Construction award in a commercial context. Few Memphians will dispute the profound impact AutoZone Park has had on the vitality of downtown. But the ballpark succeeds not only because it gathers tens of thousands of people to watch the Redbirds play, but also because it fits so well within its urban historic context. Its brick, glass and steel construction fits compatibly with the materials of nearby historic buildings. The modular massing and low-rise scale of the Union Avenue façade fit well with the smaller historic commercial buildings at the edge of downtown The design is fresh and innovative while carrying an indisputable nostalgic connotation as the home of America's pastime and tipping its baseball cap to its historic forebears. The park's entrance plaza enlivens its corner of downtown, and the panoramic view of downtown's historic skyscrapers from the right field seats is among the best in Memphis. No doubt, AutoZone Park has brought people downtown to see and appreciate historic Memphis, as well as baseball. What more could be asked of a new building in a historic context? 

The jury presented Grace-St. Luke's Episcopal Church with the Special Achievement Award for the restoration of its Tiffany glass windows. There are immense technical challenges in restoring Tiffany glass, which is three-dimensional, textured and comprised of multiple layers of glass. Belinda Grantham, of Beelines Stained Glass Restoration and Repair, rose to the challenge and restored the seven Grace-St. Lukeís historic windows, which had been commissioned by Grace Church in 1905 and built by Tiffany studios in New York. (For more on this project see Tiffany Windows Shine Again at Grace-St. Luke's).

The restoration of 13 historic stained glass windows salvaged from the original St. Agnes Academy on Vance received a Certificate of Merit. Created in 1911 by Max Guler of the Munich Studio in Chicago,the windows were crafted of dark-colored glass imported from Germany. The windows depict the saintly men and women of the Dominican order, and featured operable transoms at their tops and bottoms for ventilation. When the academy relocated to its present site in east Memphis in 1951, the windows were removed from the historic building and stored in an open container in the attic. The intention was to re-install the windows in a chapel on the new site. Since the Dominican sisters have a rule against borrowing money, and schoolrooms and educational programs were top priority, the chapel remained unbuilt for nearly 50 years.   However, the school's recent building campaign once again called for a chapel, and president Barbara Dausch remembered the legend of the stained glass windows in storage in the attic. Benefactors were sought, and the 13 original windows, which had suffered from improper storage and the ravages of time, with many broken and missing pieces, were restored by Laukhuff Stained Glass for installation in the new chapel. For safety and insurance reasons, the windows were installed inside the chapel at ground level, with artificial lighting behind them. The jury commended this creative approach to the reuse of these historic stained glass windows, and commended the school's dedication and perseverance in restoring them. 

The Anona Stoner Award was presented to the City of Memphis Division of Park Services for the restoration plan for the Memphis Parkway System. Planning for the restoration of North, South, and East Parkways, which have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989, included assessment of historic landscape features such as stone walls and viaducts on North and South Parkways. The trees in the central medians of the 7+ mile length of the parkways were surveyed and their conditions were assessed, with damaged, diseased and inappropriate trees tagged for pruning or removal. Historic photographs and high-tech aerial photographs were studied along with the tree survey to identify locations to reintroduce historically appropriate shade trees and native species. The planning phase of this project is the first in a multi-phase restoration, which will see many of the other historic landscape features of the parkways addressed. This phase has been done with sensitivity and care, allowing our Memphis Parkway System to shine as the truly exceptional, historic place that it is. 

Preservation is not just about buildings, it's also about people and communities. Two awards, the A. W. Willis Award and the Kay B. Newman Award, honor individuals or groups of people who have advanced the principles of preservation through their professional or volunteer activities. 

This year, the A. W. Willis Award was presented to Joey Williams for his contributions to the revitalization of the South Main Street historic district. Mr. Williams first entered the South Main scene in 1991, when he acquired a one-story building at 514 South Main and, using his own funds and labor, rehabilitated it as his residence. Two years later, he acquired three adjacent buildings at the corner of South Main and Vance, which were so deteriorated that portions of them had collapsed. Unable to get bank financing, he again invested his own funds to renovate the buildings and did most of the work himself. He moved his business, Bennett Stained Glass, from out of state to occupy the ground floor level, and converted the second story into two residential units, one of which is home to his own family. Most recently, Mr. Williams has taken on the renovation of the west wing of the former Ambassador Hotel on Vance near South Main, in what will be a multi-phase development. Mr. Williams has been active in the South Main Neighborhood Association,and served as the organizationís president from 1997-2000. He is currently on the associationís board of directors.

Harriet Stern was presented with the Kay B. Newman Award for her work in creating the walking tour brochure, I Am A Man honoring the Sanitation Workers Strike of 1968. Ms. Stern lived in Memphis at the time of the Sanitation Workers strike. She was one of a group of people who petitioned then-Mayor Henry Loeb to resolve the strike. After taking a Civil Rights history class at the University of Memphis, in the fall of 1999 she began an internship with Memphis Heritage, where her primary project became researching and putting together the walking tour brochure. The I Am a Man walking tour brochure is a wonderful reference and memory aid for Memphians who have first-hand recollections of the strike, relative newcomers to the city, and tourists alike. 

Occasionally, a project is nominated which doesnít stand out within its category, but which makes an impact on those reviewing it. This year, the jury was particularly taken by the garage renovation at 605 S. McLean Blvd. Too often, our historic garages and outbuildings are demolished in favor of new construction, or allowed to deteriorate to the point where demolition is the only feasible option. Rod and Nancy Maddox recognized the importance of their two-story backhouse and rehabilitated it to better function as a two-car garage and family room. With the hope of encouraging more Memphians to undertake the rehabilitation of their historic backhouses, a new category was inaugurated for future awards: the Save Our Historic Outbuildings, or SOHO Award. The Maddoxes received the first-ever SOHO Award for their garage renovation.

Many of those in attendance said that the 2001 Memphis Preservation Awards were the best ever, thanks in large part to the comfortable accommodations at St. Agnes Academy, the abundant reception following the ceremony, and the extremely high caliber of preservation work that was rewarded.  Many thanks to all of the nominees for their hard work and dedication to preserving historic Memphis.