Public Invited to Heritage Preservation Award Ceremony

The Rochester Heritage Preservation Committee invites Rochester residents to participate in an award ceremony at Central Park on Saturday, May 18th, at 2pm. The event will be held rain or shine. There will be refreshments and desserts provided. The event will start out with the Louise Hill family celebrating her life though photo slideshows and spoken word. Then there will be a short break. The preservation award ceremony will begin with Justin Voss, Chair of the Committee, introducing John Kruesel, previous award recipient, who will announce this year’s recipient of the Louise Hill Individual Achievement Award, Kevin Lund. Free tours of the Heritage House from 2pm to 5pm.

Mr. Lund is being recognized, just to name a few, for the following achievements: restoration of the Kelly Building, drafting the first preservation ordinance in 1988, efforts in getting the most recent ordinance passed, involved in preservation/restoration/adaptive reuse efforts for Soldiers Memorial Field Bath House, Northrup Community Education Center, St. Mary’s Park, Chateau Theater, Chicago Great Western Depot, and the Timothy J. Whiting House. Mr. Lund has also given countless presentations and numerous walking tours relating to historic preservation.

The Louise Hill Award for Individual Achievement was created to recognize individuals who have displayed leadership, courage and dedication to heritage preservation in the course of their career or lifetime. Louise Hill was a pioneer woman in the field of historic preservation in Rochester. Mrs. Hill was instrumental in the acquisition and renovation of the Riverside Building and in moving and renovating the Timothy J. Whiting House to Central Park. Her work on the Riverside building is considered to be the first historic adaptive reuse project in Rochester. Mrs. Hill was also involved in the revitalization of 3rd St SW which includes the Williams Building and was responsible for the redevelopment of the Time Theatre on Broadway and 4th St SE.

Working closely with the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office, Rochester neighborhood associations, City Council members, City of Rochester staff, and the local business community for the past few years, the Heritage Preservation Committee helped develop (the most recent) new ordinance as a way to support preservation of local historic resources. The ordinance outlines a process for selection of historic sites to be considered for designation, a process for drafting an incentive plan, and creates a historic preservation commission to administer the process and act as a resource for property members and community members. For this reason the Committee, in its conclusion, has decided to give one award this year.