Cincinnati Preservation Association Recognizes Excellence in Preservation

Each year, Cincinnati Preservation Association (CPA) recognizes outstanding accomplishment in local preservation activities with Preservation Awards in the categories of rehabilitation, craftsmanship, education, and sustainability.  This year CPA was pleased to also give an award in the new category of Special Recognition. The following recipients were presented with awards at our Annual Meeting on November, 8, 2009 at Memorial Hall. 

CRAFTSMANSHIP AWARD
Rookwood Pottery
Rookwood Pottery was founded in Cincinnati in 1880. The first female-led manufacturing firm in the country, Rookwood became the best-known art pottery in the United States and won many awards for excellence. Unfortunately the pottery was hit hard by the Great Depression, and never recovered. In 2006 the newly formed  Rookwood Pottery Company entered into a contract to acquire all of the remaining assets of the original Rookwood Pottery.  Now the Rookwood tradition has been revived with inspiring new designs and original standards for exceptional quality.

EDUCATION AWARD
Elizabeth Meyer
Elizabeth Meyer, Librarian at the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, has made immeasurable contributions to the documentation of Mid-Century Modernist architecture and interiors in the Cincinnati region. She has initiated a project with the University of Cincinnati Archives to collect and organize original documents, drawings, photographs, and other resources pertaining to Cincinnati Modernist buildings.  In the future these will be available to students, scholars, local property-owners and preservationists for study and research.  Were it not for Ms. Meyer's efforts, many of these valuable documents would be slipping away unrecorded. 

REHABILITATION AWARDS
“Les Tours,” Luedeking House, East Walnut Hills
A five-year labor of love has restored the splendor of a magnificent East Walnut Hills residence. This fascinating house with Hollywood flair was built on the eve of the Great Depression for haberdasher and gold mine heir Otto Luedeking and his wife, Catherine. Unfortunately, during an insensitive remodeling in the 1950s, many original elements were damaged or removed.  Restoration began shortly after the present owners’ purchase of the home in 2004. 

2312 Park Avenue, Walnut Hills
    This splendid Queen Anne frame residence near Eden Park was the home of dry-goods merchant Henry Pogue of the H. & S. Pogue Company. Originally built around 1865, it was enlarged and remodeled in the late 19th century. It is one of the few Walnut Hills estates that has maintained its large lot size as well as its architectural integrity.   Following an exemplary adaptive renovation, the Pogue mansion now houses the offices of Vivian Llambi & Associates, landscape architects.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD
Meiners Flats, Over-the-Rhine
One of the tallest buildings in Over-the-Rhine, Meiners Flats was built circa 1875 by a family of German-American stonemasons as an investment.  For two decades, the building sat empty: a sad presence on a hard-luck street. When bricks started raining from the roof in 2008, the City barricaded the sidewalk and ordered the building’s demolition.
    Moved by the building’s plight, Cincinnati native Danny Klingler, CPA, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation brought the building into the media spotlight and raised $5,000.  Recognizing the building’s potential, and its importance to so many Cincinnatians, the City of Cincinnati allocated demolition funds for stabilization. The building was purchased by the Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC), who contributed another $200,000 to the effort. Now this one-of-a-kind building stands proudly once again, preserved for future development.  Awards were presented to the City of Cincinnati, 3CDC, and Danny Klingler for stabilizing Meiners Flats. 

SUSTAINABILITY AWARD
Veraestau Historic Site, Aurora, Indiana
In the 1930s Cornelius O’Brien purchased the Veraestau estate in Aurora, Indiana. Not only did he seek to preserve the buildings; he also wanted to demonstrate progressive conservation practices: a legacy that continues today. On the eve of its bicentennial, the historic site has installed a 21st-century geothermal heating and cooling system with the help of generous donations in labor and equipment. The geothermal installation is more than a capital investment—it will be a feature of the site, a classroom for professionals and a statement to the public about the preservation movement’s sustainable ethos.

Founded in 1964, the Cincinnati Preservation Association (formerly known as the Miami Purchase Association for Historic Preservation) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advocacy and education for the preservation of the historic built environment in Greater Cincinnati.