Northern Kentucky cities honor best in preservation

In celebration of the National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Preservation Month, Northern Kentucky's three Certified Local Government cities have presented awards for their best examples of environmentally and economically sustainable development.

The 2010 River Cities Preservation Awards, held at Covington's Artisans Enterprise Center last Thursday, highlighted the most outstanding preservation projects completed during the 2009 calendar year in Covington, Newport, and Bellevue.

Covington winners include:

• Exterior restoration, residential: 1019 Russell Street, Ben and Loren Wolff;
• Exterior restoration, mixed use/commercial: 140 W Pike Street (Riggs Optical), Larry Naiser;
• Rehabilitation, residential: 618 W 11th Street, Dan and Jessica Krebs;
• Rehabilitation, mixed-use/commercial and adaptive reuse: 117 W 4th Street (The Legacy Building), Legacy Financial Advisors;
• Project excellence: 405 E 2nd Street (The Carneal House), Steve and Connie Bishop; and
• Stewardship: Baker Hunt Art and Cultural Center, 620 Greenup Street

Newport winners include:

• New construction design: 503 E 4th Street, Matthew and Jennifer Daniels and City Studios Architecture;
• Residential rehabilitation: 709 Overton Street, Jeffrey and Rosemary Weghorst;
• Residential rehabilitation: 1006 Central Avenue, Timothy and Thelma Kiser; and
• Stewardship: Southgate Street School, Newport Grand Lodge Trustees.

Bellevue winners include:

• Residential rehabilitation: 251 Berry Avenue, Monica and Robert Kreiling;
• Mixed-use/commercial rehabilitation: 400 Fairfield Avenue (Hilde's Gallery), Tyler Hildenbrand.

For the first time, Covington presented the Karen and Peter Rafuse award in recognition of individual dedication to the preservation of Covington's architectural and cultural heritage. Karen Rafuse is the first person recognized with the award.

Administered by the National Park Service and each state's historic preservation office, the Certified Local Government Program is a preservation partnership between local, state and national governments focused on promoting historic preservation at the grassroots level.

Photo of 503 E 4th Street, Newport courtesy of Emily Jarzen, historic preservation specialist, City of Newport.

Previous reading on BC:
Covington HPO seeks nominations for River Cities awards (3/31/10)
River Cities Preservation Awards next Wednesday (5/14/09)
Covington accepting nominations for preservation awards (3/14/08)