NH Preservation Alliance hands out annual awards

The Currier Museum’s effort to prevent demolition of them Chandler House in Manchester was among the initiatives recognized by the NH Preservation Alliance.

Seven rescue, revitalization and rehabilitation projects in towns and cities across the state were honored May 12 with NH Preservation Alliance Preservation Achievement Awards.

They were:

• Community Church of Eaton for the steeple restoration of the 1879 Little White Church. The volunteer project leaders created a team of advisers to help local contractor Thomas Costello get the job done.
• Town of Franconia for the restoration of Willow and Elmwood Cemetery Gates. StandFast Works Forge worked on repairing the badly deteriorated entry gates at both cemeteries.
• Francestown Improvement and Historical Society for the Historic Long Store Building.
• Goddard Block L.P., New England Family Housing, a project that transformed a condemned 1926 commercial building in downtown Claremont into a mixed-use property.
• James Putnam for the rehabilitation of the Hayward-Ellis House at 91 Court St., Keene, an 1880 Victorian home.
• GoodWork for the Carey Cottage at Creek Farm, Portsmouth, which was fully rehabilitated by new investors to house offices for non-profit start-ups on the first floor and residential apartments on the second floor.
• Kimball Jenkins, Concord, for restoration of the mansion’s slate roof and exterior woodwork.

In addition, three planning, educational and advocacy initiatives were recognized:

• Currier Museum of Art and Save the Chandler House group for their work in preventing demolition of the grand residence built by a founder of the Amoskeag Mills.
• The city of Rochester for creation of a virtual historic map.
• The Seacoast Reliability Project Historic Resources Team for its survey of archeological and historic resources for the proposed 115 kilovolt transmission line between Madbury and Portsmouth.

Also honored were:

• Eugene Reid, whose Building Construction & Restoration Carpentry program at Canaan (Vt.) High School has provided three generations of Vermont and New Hampshire high school students with hands-on training and experience restoring old buildings.
• Meredith Architect Chris Williams who was honored for his 35 years of commitment to preservation.