May of each year is National Historic Preservation Month and this year’s theme is “This Place Matters,” a campaign for showcasing one’s favorite historic building. The city of Valdosta is celebrating with the 10th annual Historic Preservation Awards.  These awards are given to a select few who have gone above and beyond to rehabilitate and preserve a particular contributing historic building or construct a new building which blends well with the historic character of the District.

The categories for the awards are:  Outstanding Achievement for large rehabilitation projects, Distinguished Merit for smaller rehabilitation projects, Stewardship for long term preservation and care of a historic building and Excellence in Compatible New Construction for new construction that blends well with the historic character of the District.  There is also the Harold Bennett Lifetime Achievement Award for a Valdostan who has preserved buildings or promoted the Historic Preservation Movement in Valdosta in an outstanding way over a long period of time.

The awards provide positive reinforcement to the Historic District Design Review process, promote goodwill within our community and acknowledge the hard work and monetary re-investment back into the community’s building stock.

Mayor John Gayle along with Celine Gladwin, Chairman of the Valdosta Historic Preservation Commission presented the awards Thursday night. The projects were introduced by James Horton, City of Valdosta Historic Preservation Planner and Special Projects Coordinator.

Outstanding Achievement

The building at 314 N. Patterson was built in the 1950’s as a grocery store and later served as a variety of retail stores and offices until it sat vacant for a number of years.  Located back from the street, this unassuming building was situated behind some large trees and was not really noticeable to the passersby.  Ms. Tish Johnson discovered the building and could see great potential for a new office space for her company.  She transformed the interior into sleek office spaces while showcasing the historic features and finishes and rehabilitated the exterior all while preserving its form and character making this building shine for Valdosta.  She beautified the outdoor spaces with a brick and iron fence surrounding a heavily landscaped courtyard.  The project was funded through a local bank and also used the Downtown Redevelopment Incentive Program.

Distinguished Merit

The home at 1505 Slater Street was designed by Lloyd Greer, and constructed for the Stump family in 1924.  The home was expanded by Greer in the 1930’s and again in the 1950’s by architect Conner Thompson.  In the 1990’s, the home was expanded with several poor quality additions which destroyed the historic character of the original design as the home was divided in four apartments to be rented to college students.  In 2017, CAADTA, LLC, formed by Alex Alvarez and Derek Allen, purchased the house and rehabilitated the house removing the non-historic additions and returning the home to its former Colonial Revival design that Lloyd Greer intended.  The project was completed with private funds from CAADTA and is now a single-family home again.

Stewardship

The Pentecostal House of Prayer is a wooden church building at 315 E. Central Avenue that was originally constructed for the Valdosta Baptist Church in 1867.  It is Valdosta’s oldest remaining religious structure.  It was purchased by the Pentecostal House of Prayer congregation in 1994 and has been loved and cared for by the group ever since.  The building retains its original design with its rectangular shape and tall central tower and large stained glass windows.  Recently the congregation repaired the stained glass windows and protected them with the installation of storm windows.  The exterior was also just given a fresh coat of white paint which makes it gleam with beauty in the sunshine under the oak trees.  The congregation also owns and beautifully maintains the Queen Anne Dukes Autry home adjacent to the building.

Excellence in Compatible New Construction

Whitehead Hardware, a division of Miller Hardware today, had its beginnings at Strickland-Tillman Hardware Back in 1912.  Eight years later in 1920 Strickland bought out Tillman and by 1933 Roy Whitehead bought the company and re-named it Whitehead Hardware.  The store was originally located at 204 S. Ashley.  In 1972 Miller Hardware bought Whitehead and eventually moved it to its current location at 104 S. Lee Street where it is today.  Needing more retail floor space, the Millers decided to build a new showroom for Whitehead in 2017.  The project was designed by IPG Architecture and its design was approved by the Historic Preservation Commission.  The new building is constructed of red brick and has arched windows and a tower-like front entrance.  Its scale, setting, design and materials fit neatly into the historic character of Downtown Valdosta.