The University City Historical
Society's
1998 Gifts to the Streets Awards
Story and Photos by Sylvia Barkan,
UCHS Board Member
On a snowy afternoon (yes, a real snow, which soon turned to rain), members of the University City Historical Society and the preservation award winners for 1998 all came to "Dor-Den," the warm and elegant Cedar Park home of Doris and Elton Cochran-Fikes, and came in out of the cold. The happy occasion was the Pre-Valentine's Day Tea and the Annual UCHS Preservation Awards celebration.
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This year there was additional reason to celebrate. After much hard work, much of University City is now designated as historic districts. It was like adding a last piece to a jig saw puzzle. The now designated West Philadelphia Street Car Suburb Historic District, joins the Powelton and Garden Court Historic Districts and the over fifty locations in West Philadelphia that are already listed on The National Register of Historic Places. |
For weeks before the tea, a team of scouts covered the neighborhood by foot and by car looking for this year's "Gifts to the Streets" commendations and Preservation Awards candidates, noting all the signs of visible exterior preservation improvements. We saw so much, a reflection of the new spirit in the area, that it was hard to make choices. If, by chance, we missed you or a neighbor, please let us know. We cite property owners throughout the year for their "Gift to the Street" efforts. As we drove around, it put us all in a good mood and yet we were occasionally sorry there was no "Reverse Award" category, but then these are Preservation Awards.
The 1998 Outstanding Preservation Awards were presented to:
Vladimir Hartman at 4223 Pine Street for the multicolored paint scheme of his home, with special appreciation for his efforts to restore major amounts of its decorative architectural sheet metal work that had been damaged by fire. |
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Milton Mitoulis at 3512 Baring Street for sensitive, elegant restoration of his stone apartment house, with special appreciation for his efforts to construct new garages using granite materials which compliment the original stone of the house. |
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The 1998 Preservation Initiative Award was presented to:
D-L Wormley, Stefany Williams-Jones, Gabrielle Jones, and The Office of Community Housing, University of Pennsylvania for inspiring Penn affiliates to reside in and take pride in University City as new home owners and for championing Penn's efforts to sensitively reclaim and restore fifteen troubled houses in the neighborhood. Since the office was established in 1998 and through their efforts, Penn employees have purchased ninety houses in our historic neighborhood, which has, in turn, had many positive spin-offs, reflected in a new optimistic spirit in the area. We especially appreciate the "gift" of new "house-proud" neighbors and applauded their continuing work to bring us more. All these efforts serve as a "best example" of responsible community stewardship for the architectural heritage of University City.
In addition to the award recipients, some sixty-six University City properties were cited and their owners presented with "Gift to the Streets" commendations for new paint jobs and other historically sensitive exterior improvements. Those responsible were Myriam Azzedine & Tim Siftar, Carolyn P. Burdon, Jan & Arthur Bye, Charles & Kate Covington, Albert G. Crawford, Richard De Matt, Adam & Martha Rode Dablo, Eugene Dempsey, Jr., Stephen Donnelly, Geraldine & Robert Guintoli, Lester Goldstein, George O. Green, Stacey Marcin & Mark Hampson, James A. Hayden, Paul Stewart Hayward, William F. Hooper, III, Alan Horwitz, Michael Karp, Vuong Van Le, James A. & Maryanne Pa Lilly, Deana & Wilson Loh, Patricia Long, Tom Lussenhop, Robert M. & Phyllis McCafferty, Heiner H. & Gisela K. Moehren, Gregory Montanaro, Lynn Regina & Mario Mosgrove, Glenn Moyer, Margaret Pastore, Campus Realty Properties, Elizabeth Rastell, Roy Harker & Robert Renando, Harry Richardson, Dennis T. Ritondo, Richard Kirk & John Schnepp, Paul J. Shevlin, Robert Alan Sutton, Gary Tannenbaum, Shirley Turner, Seth & Janice M. Weiss, Joan Wells, Mary T & Walter M. Wood, Jr., Philip & Debbie Zuchman. The proporties cited were 103 N. 35th Street; 122, 124, 126, 128, 130, 132 S. 39th Street; 309, 311, 313, 317, 319 S. 41st Street; 445 S. 44th Street; The Marigold Restaurant, 501 S. 45th Street; 1016-1018 S. 45th Street; 324-326 S. 46th Street; 3949-3951, 4317, 4321, 4329, 4623 Baltimore Avenue; Cornerstone Bed & Breakfast, 3300 Baring Street; 4621, 4627, 4712, 4729 Cedar Avenue; 4507, 4514 Chester Avenue; 4329, 4419 Larchwood Avenue; 4100 Locust Street; 4045-4047, 4218, 4234, 4236, 4332-4334, 4537 Pine Street; 4024, 4026, 4028, 4030, 4032, 4034, 4037, 4039, 4041, 4043, 4047, 4049, 4051, 4053, 4055, 4057, 4061, 4063 Sansom Street; 4724-4726, 4805, 4807 Springfield Avenue; and 4048-4050 Spruce Street.
go to information on 1997 Gift to the Street Awards
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