Winners of 2025 National Preservation Awards Announced

MILWAUKEE, Sept. 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Trust for Historic Preservation is pleased to announce the eight recipients of this year's National Preservation Awards. The National Preservation Awards include several of the industry's highest honors, highlighting distinguished individuals, nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and corporations that give new meaning to their communities through skillful and determined preservation work.

A formal awards ceremony, with video presentations about each winner, will take place on the morning of Tuesday, September 16 to kick off the start of the 2025 PastForward Conference, held this year in Milwaukee from September 16-18.

"Preservation is a creative force. Historic places hold shared memories that can bring us together. By saving and thoughtfully adapting them for new uses, we can strengthen community engagement, nurture local culture, promote economic opportunity, and reduce waste," said Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "The winners of this year's National Preservation Awards have each demonstrated the creative potential of historic preservation to serve the public good. Whether it's the transformation of a Beaux-Arts industrial landmark into housing, or the brick-by-brick relocation of an important historic house so that it can offer the local community a place for civic gatherings, these sites and preservationists give a face to the maxim that 'preservation creates.'"

This year's awards program traces its roots back more than six decades. The National Trust for Historic Preservation first established its marquee Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award in 1960 to focus public attention on superlative achievements and to create incentives for preservation. That honor has expanded over the decades into the National Preservation Awards, which are now bestowed annually in six categories. The awards program has since 2012 included a sub-set of honors named for the late preservationist Richard H. Driehaus, and the eponymous Driehaus Foundation.

"This year we are thrilled to support the National Trust for Historic Preservation once again as we celebrate the greatest achievements in preservation," said Anne Lazar, executive director of the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. "The three Driehaus award winners have inspired us all, as they prove that with the right solutions, preservation can make our communities more vibrant, attractive and interesting."

The 2025 National Preservation Awards recipients include:

• Louise du Pont Crowninshield Award: Althemese Pemberton Barnes (Tallahassee, FL). Althemese Pemberton Barnes has redefined the preservation field through her decades-long work to protect and elevate African American cultural heritage in Florida and beyond. As the founder of the Florida African American Heritage Preservation Network (FAAHPN) and the John Gilmore Riley Center/Museum, she built systems that empower over fifty institutions. Successfully navigating bipartisan landscapes, her extraordinary contributions exemplify how one person's vision can transform communities and inspire generations.
• Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Award: The Battery (Philadelphia, PA). Formerly the Philadelphia Electric Company's Delaware Station, The Battery is a transformative adaptive reuse project preserving a Beaux-Arts industrial landmark while creating vibrant new livable spaces that serve the community. Spanning 300,000+ square feet, it houses apartments, offices, event spaces, and a hotel—a mix of uses virtually unseen in a historic rehabilitation project in Philadelphia. The project also reconnected the community to the Delaware River waterfront via the extended Delaware River Trail, celebrating a landmark of the city's industrial past and securing its future relevance. 
• Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Award: Lawson House Rehabilitation (Chicago, IL). Lawson House, Chicago's historic former YMCA, occupies the northeast corner of Chicago and Dearborn, across the street from the "Billionaire's Tower" in one of the city's wealthiest neighborhoods. Designed in 1931, the iconic Art Deco skyscraper once provided 583 single-room occupancy units during the Great Depression, creating a "city in a block" with gymnasiums, a natatorium, cafeteria and more. After purchasing the building for $1, Holsten Real Estate Development Corp. undertook a $128M rehabilitation project to tackle decades of deferred maintenance, upgrade building systems, restore historic spaces, and provide dignified private living conditions for some of Chicago's most vulnerable. A transformational project, the Lawson House rehabilitation is a preservation model of how to develop affordable, amenity-rich housing in neighborhoods as affluent as Chicago's Gold Coast.
• Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Award: The Orange Mound Library & Genealogy Center (Memphis, TN). After 40 years of vacancy, the Historic Melrose School now stands as a national model of historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and cultural placemaking. Built in the 1930s as a federal Works Project Administration effort and closed in 1979, the three-story brick building was saved thanks to the tireless advocacy of alumni and residents to restore its position as a community hub. Through a $16M transformation led by the City of Memphis, this landmark now houses the community's first public library, senior apartments, and a genealogy center that connects residents to their heritage in Orange Mound, the first subdivision in the country to be built by African Americans for African Americans.
• National Trust/Advisory Council on Historic Preservation Award for Federal Partnerships in Historic Preservation: Zoar Village National Historic Landmark Levee Project (Zoar Village, OH). In the 1930s, the U.S Army Corps of Engineers constructed a levee to protect the historic city of Zoar, Ohio, founded in 1817. By the 1990s, it became clear that the levee was reaching the end of its useful life. The sustained collaboration of staff from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office, the Zoar Community Association, the Ohio Archeological Council, the Ohio and Erie Canalways Association, and Ohio History Connection through the Section 106 process over almost two decades resulted in the 2023 completion of a $14 million dollar repair project that will ensure the levee continues to protect the citizens of Zoar and the town's historic resources for generations to come.
• Trustees' Award for Organizational Excellence: Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation (Baton Rouge, LA). The Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation has long been dedicated to advocating for the preservation of the state's historic resources. For 46 years, the organization has worked across all 64 parishes, emphasizing the importance of historic preservation. Its mission includes empowering local communities and leaders to identify and appreciate the rich history within their areas, dispelling misconceptions about preservation, and fostering disaster resiliency.
• Trustees' Emeritus Award for Historic Site Stewardship: The O'Connor House (Tempe, AZ). The O'Connor House is the historic adobe home of retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, which was relocated in Tempe, Arizona, brick by brick, in an effort to save the house from demolition. Today, it serves as a center for civic engagement, hosting events and initiatives that promote dialogue, civil discourse, and solutions to pressing societal issues. The house embodies Justice O'Connor's commitment to fostering understanding and collaboration in public life.
• John H. Chafee Trustees' Award for Excellence in Public Policy: Marsh Davis (Indiana). For nearly two decades, Marsh Davis has served as the president and CEO of Indiana Landmarks, where he effectively used preservation as a tool for community revitalization, civic engagement, and cultural recognition. Under his leadership, Indiana Landmarks grew into the largest statewide preservation organization in the country. Davis has contributed to national policy conversations as a trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a board member of Preservation Action, and an advisor to several national grant programs. Through his tireless advocacy and vision, Marsh Davis has strengthened preservation infrastructure, expanded its public value, and positioned historic places as integral to our national identity.

About The National Trust: The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately-funded nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities maintain and enhance the power of historic places. Chartered by Congress in 1949 and supported by partners, friends, and champions nationwide, we help preserve the places and stories that make communities unique. Through the stewardship and revitalization of historic sites, we help communities foster economic growth, create healthier environments, and build a stronger, shared sense of civic duty and belonging.
SavingPlaces.org

About PastForward: PastForward is the annual conference of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, September 16-18, attracting thousands of people passionate about saving places. Attendees include preservationists, advocates and architects, city planners and historic site directors, students and elected officials, commissioners, and main street directors. This year's conference will focus on three themes; creating climate resilience through historic preservation, ensuring a representative preservation movement, and encouraging historic preservation-based community development. https://savingplaces.org/conference 

Press Contact: Elliot Carter, Senior Manager of Media Relations at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. [email protected]

SOURCE National Trust for Historic Preservation