The 2009 Landmark Society Annual Meeting and Preservation Awards was held Sunday, November 22, 2009.

Download a .pdf of The Landmark Society's 2009 Annual Report

Our 2009 Annual Meeting was held on Sunday, November 22 at the Rochester Academy of Medicine. About 175 people gathered while we elected new trustees for 2010, heard an update from by Executive Director Joanne Arany on the "Brave New World" The Landmark Society is facing, and honored the winners of our annual Historic Preservation awards.

Congratulations to our newly-elected trustees: Thomas Castelein, AIA; Joseph R. Hanna; Michael Mincher and Jeffrey J. Pollock, and to our new board president Henry Williams. We also bid a fond farewell to trustees Lois J. Geiss, Gabriel Ritz Saphar, Richard W. McGrath, Betsy W. Harrison and Craig J. Zicari (who also served as board president in FY 2009) Thank you all for your dedicated years of service to The Landmark Society!

Those honored with Historic Preservation awards in 2009 ranged from homeowners and preservation activists to talented craftsmen, architects and even a shipwreck-exploring team! The Society applauded the exemplary restoration and care of such structures as the Old Gate House at Mt. Hope Cemetery, the historic landscape of Sea Breeze Amusement Park, the craftsmanship of Marty Naber and the dedication of preservationists whose stewardship serves to improve our community and preserve our history and built environment for generations to come. A full listing of award winners is below.

Our annual awards are the culmination of months of careful evaluation by a committee of architectural experts. Beginning in April, committee representatives visit between 30 and 50 different locations in the nine-county region in search of the best examples of appropriate historic rehabilitation work in western New York. They examine, photograph, discuss and vote on each site. The criteria for winners are strict, debate is often spirited, and awards are only given in those categories with qualified recipients.

2009 Preservation Award recipients:

Award of Merit

Old Gate House (1870s), Mt. Hope Cemetery, 791 Mt. Hope Ave, Rochester, N.Y.

New Welcome Hall and Gathering Center, Asbury First United Methodist Church, 1040 East Ave., Rochester, N.Y. Project Architect: Joanne DeMarle/Bero Architects

Stewardship Award

Wheatland Historical Association, Scottsville, N.Y.

Historic Landscape Award

Sea Breeze Amusement Park, 4600 Culver Rd., Irondequoit, N.Y.

Machpelah Cemetery, 71 North Street, LeRoy, Genesee County, N.Y.

Historic Home Award

39 Dunning Avenue, Village of Webster, N.Y. Owners: Michael & Joan Sassone

285 Clover Hills Drive, Brighton, N.Y. Owner: Mrs. Albert (Sybil) Craig

Special Citation

Bill Buckett (posthumously), talented graphic designer, long-time volunteer/trustee/president of The Landmark Society; designer of many Landmark Society publications.

Great Lakes Shipwreck Documentation Team, Pultneyville, N.Y. Consisting of two engineers - Jim Kennard of Fairport and Dan Scoville of Houston, TX - and Pultneyville architect/artist Roland “Chip” Stevens, this team has been diving, exploring and documenting historic shipwrecks in Lakes Ontario, Champlain and Erie over the past eight years.

Craftsman Award

Martin Naber, mason/owner of Naberhood Restoration Co., Honeoye Falls, N.Y. Known for his precise and exacting standards, Marty and his company have worked on numerous historic properties over the past 20+ years, including recent completion of the replacement of six new chimneys on the Hoyt-Potter House (1840), our Landmark Society headquarters. .

Paul Malo Award
This award recognizes an individual/organization for their community preservation advocacy in honor of the late Paul Malo, Syracuse University professor of architecture emeritus, author of our first book, Landmarks of Rochester & Monroe County and long-time friend and colleague of LSWNY

Dr. Judith Wellman, historian/SUNY Oswego history faculty (emerita), Fulton, N.Y. Dr.Wellman is a tireless advocate for cultural and historic resources in central and western New York and a long-time supporter of historic preservation/architecture in the region.

Special Achievement Award

Daniel Barber, Historic Preservation Consultant, Town of Stafford, N.Y., for his five-decade career as a curator, archaeologist and preservation advocate. Mr. Barber is a member of the professional staffs of both the Rochester Museum and Science Center and the Genesee Country Village and Museum, who, along with Landmark Society trustee Jessie Woodward and honorary trustee Stuart Bolger, was one of the principal researchers to conduct the restoration/archeological investigation at our Stone-Tolan House Museum in the late 1960s.