Historic Preservation Award Nominations Being Accepted

 

 

 


The Design Committee of the City of Howell Main Street Program and Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is currently seeking nominations for the 6th annual Historic Preservation and Design Awards Program. This Program recognizes outstanding achievements and investments in commercial buildings by property owners that are consistent with standards of historic preservation stewardship and result in significant aesthetic and design improvements to the community.

 

Eligible Properties

  • Any property located within the DDA District (See Figure 1/City of Howell DDA Boundary) is eligible for the award. All projects must have been completed in 2011. Large projects may be eligible for more than one award, although no award winner is eligible for another award in the same category for a period of three years. All nominations are due no later than Thursday, March 8, 2012. The awards will be presented during a special reception on the evening of Thursday, May 24th at the Opera House.  If you have any questions regarding the Historic Preservation and Design Awards Program, please contact the Howell Main Street/Downtown Development Authority (Howell Main Street DDA) at 517-545-4240 ext. 1.

 

Award Categories

Properties may be nominated in the following categories:

  •  Preservation Stewardship: This includes buildings that have been well-maintained over a significant period of time, with special attention to careful maintenance, façade alterations that are sensitive to historic character, and work that is shown to be appropriate for the historic resource. The original use of the building may be changed, but care has been taken to maintain the building’s integrity and changes over time have been compatible with the historic character of the building.
  •  Exterior Restoration or Rehabilitation: Exterior of properties that have undergone significant rehabilitation or been restored to their original style or appearance.
  • Building Interior: This includes significant investment and renovation in historic building interiors, including general building code upgrades; also ground floor commercial improvements demonstrating excellence in merchandising, customer orientation, and/or business functionality in an office or retail setting. Also eligible are upper story commercial or residential renovation projects resulting in high quality space, all while maintaining or restoring the historical appearance of the building.
  • Sympathetic Addition: Construction of an addition to an existing structure that is compatible with the original architectural style of the property.
  • Compatible New Construction or Property Improvement: Any new structure that is compatible with the architectural character of the neighborhood/area in which the new structure is located, and/or site improvement that results in significant aesthetic enhancement to the property.

 Judging Criteria

All nominations will be graded by the Design Committee of the Howell Main Street DDA from 1 through 5 in each of the following four judging criteria. This will lead to a score between 4 and 20 points. To be eligible for an award, a nomination must score at least 10 points.

  •  Historical Preservation Excellence: demonstrated compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Historic Rehabilitation; documented historic research; compliance with the City of Howell ordinances and/or Design Guidelines.
  • Project’s Level of Difficulty: Affected are; estimated cost. For example, re-roofing a building is a small preservation project, while restoring an original façade of a significant historic building downtown is a larger preservation project.
  •  Impact of the Project on the Community: Number of people immediately affected; visibility; economic benefits to the local economy; and external vs. internal work.
  •  Historic Importance: Structure listed as a significant historic building; structure listed as a contributing historic building, structure is historic within downtown’s National Registered Historic District or structure is not historic. (Please note a property is defined as being historic if it has been at least 50 years since the buildings was constructed).

For full application, click here