In 2008 the California Preservation Foundation Board of Trustees honored six individuals and four organizations for their outstanding work to advance historic preservation in California. The awards were presented during the Plenary Session of the 33rd Annual California Preservation Conference.

Preservationist of the Year
GEE GEE BLAND PLATT

Gee Gee Platt has remained in the forefront of preservation issues in San Francisco and statewide, working tirelessly and largely behind the scenes for decades to preserve San Francisco’s architectural heritage. Recently she spearheaded efforts to save historic portions of the old Emporium Building on Market, while demanding that the City Planning Code be upheld there and in future work on historic buildings. When unplanned demolition occurred several years later, she joined San Franciscans for Preservation Planning in suing the city and the developers resulting in a $2.5 million settlement against the developer.

The Milton Marks Award—Legislators of the Year
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR JOHN GARAMENDI
SENATOR DARRELL STEINBERG
ASSEMBLYMAN DAVE JONES

The State Lands Commission, under the Lt. Governor’s jurisdiction, supported California State Parks and the California Railroad Museum proposal to expand the California Railroad Museum by rehabilitating two of the oldest masonry buildings at the site. The leadership and negotiating skills of these officials was crucial in forging an agreement that will now transfer the two historic buildings to the Department of Parks and Recreation and will enable the State Railroad Museum to carry out its expansion plans. This is an important step to ensuring that these important historic buildings will be reused in a manner that brings the railroad era in American history alive and that will attract thousands of visitors to the area.

Volunteer of the Year
CHARLES E. CHASE, AIA
San Francisco

Charles Chase has held many roles in the California Preservation Foundation and has made a difference by redefining our programs. He is a member of the Education Committee, helping shape our educational programs for the past 5 years. He served on the conference steering committee, conference programs committee and the Preservation Design Award jury. For the past 5 years, Charles chaired the Preservation Design Awards and in this time the program has been refined, streamlined and grown.

President’s Awards

THE COALITION TO SAVE JOHNIE’S BROILER
Los Angeles

The “Friends of Johnie’s” mobilized to list the landmark structure on the California Register. After the illegal and substantial demolition of the building in January 2007, the “Friends” re-grouped as the “Coalition to Rebuild the Broiler.” They coordinated events to raise awareness about the plight and circulated petitions to move forward with a local preservation ordinance. The Coalition’s good work paid off: the owner of a Bob’s Big Boy in nearby Torrance signed a long-term lease for the site and plans to reconstruct the drive-in restaurant. The franchise plans to restore the Broiler’s signature sign and salvage other parts of the partially demolished building.

THE PRESTON CASTLE FOUNDATION
Ione

The Preston Castle Foundation, founded in the 1970’s, has been effective at rallying local support and fundraising to save the Preston Castle, the former Preston School of Industry, founded in 1894. They are working with a structural engineer and historic architect to develop plans for a phased restoration. To raise funds and raise awareness they have a series of events including a golf tournament, wine tasting events, and a jazz and blues jubilee.

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA
Rutherford

The Coppola Family purchased the historic mansion, carriage house and 1500 acres of property in 1975. In 1995, they bought the remaining part of the estate, restoring it to its original dimension. Keeping true to his word to demolish the building, Francis Ford Coppola started the jack-hammers and initiated the long-awaited demolition on December 13th, 2007, thus taking a major step to restore the historic view of the Inglenook Chateau from Highway 29. The land will be planted in Cabernet Sauvignon vines cloned from the estate.

THE FOX OAKLAND THEATRE RESTORATION PROJECT
Oakland

CPF honors the Fox Oakland Public-Private Partnership (Oakland Redevelopment Agency, the Friends of Fox Theatre, California Capital Group, and Bank of America) to recognize the creative and exemplary Public-Private Partnership that is the driving force behind the landmark rehabilitation of the Fox Oakland Theater. The restored historic Fox Oakland Theatre will be reborn as a performing arts center and new performing arts charter school, and is a catalyst to economic revitalization of this once severely blighted neighborhood.

SAVE THE SAN FRANCISCO FLOWER MART
San Francisco

The San Francisco Flower Mart tenants group, under the leadership of Patrick McCann and attorney Sue Hestor, worked with San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin to introduce legislation imposing a two year moratorium on permit changes at San Francisco’s Flower Mart. The Board of Supervisors took the lead, with the unanimous backing of the Planning Commission and the Mayor’s office. The legislation passed and the Academy of Art University backed away from the deal in February 2008.

The 2007 CPF President’s Awards Announced at the 32nd Annual California Preservation Conference.

RAY GIRVIGIAN, FAIA

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

Ray Girvigian FAIA, has been a pioneer in the Historic Preservation Movement for the past half century by initiating, creating, drafting and actively coordinating the passage of many firsts in preservation laws, ordinances and regulations in California and in Washington.

He was an early contributor to the formation of the National Register and was charter member of the National Park Service Historic American Building Survey, as its Vice-Chair.

He has contributed to the California Environmental Quality Act with respect to historic elements of its regulations.

He initiated the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Ordinance, the first of tits kind, and initiated and assisted in other legislative firsts such as the Mills Act, the State Historic Building Code, as well as the laws enabling the Capitol Restoration Project and the subsequent Historic Capitol Commission.

His decades of public service and leadership in the preservation movement over these years in important preservation campaigns and his advancements in the arts and sciences of restoration technology have earned him many honors and awards that signify his lifetime achievements in historic preservation.

Ray Girvigians’ contributions to historic preservation movement in California are many and varied—too many to list here.  Behind many of the significant measures we use to protect historic resources— are in place as a direct result of Ray’s work.  As a colleague of his noted, Ray Girvigians’ actions started a process “that will continue indefinitely.”

For your significant role in developing measures that protect historic buildings and sites in California – the Board of Trustees of the California Preservation Foundation is proud and honored to present you with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

G. PEYTON HALL, FAIA 
PRESERVATIONIST OF THE YEAR AWARD

The Board of Trustees is proud to present the Preservationist of the Year Award to one of our own…one of our biggest supporters and, certainly, one of preservations’ greatest assets Peyton Hall.  Under Peyton’s leadership, CPF positioned itself for growth and laid the groundwork for the direction and changes that are being executed today.

In 1995, Peyton was recruited by Historic Resources Group in Hollywood, one of the leading historic preservation consulting firms in the west.   Peyton became a partner within 2 years made a substantial contribution to its growth as a consultant for significant and high-profile historic preservation, conservation, and adaptive re-use projects.

Peyton is the Principal and Director of Architecture at Historic Resources Group.  He has practiced architecture and planning since 1974.  He holds a bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Virginia and a Master of Environmental Design degree from Yale University.  His academic honors include the Parsons Medal in City Planning at Yale.  Post-graduate studies include a certificate from the Center for Palladian Studies in Vincenza, Italy, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts for study at the National Cultural Properties Institute in Tokyo, Japan.

One of his major contributions is in the area of teaching and preservation technology research.  As a lecturer at the University of Southern California, School of Architecture, Peyton wrote the first syllabus and taught the first course in building conservation for the university.   He is one of three faculty members who inaugurated the new courses offered in the recently established Certificate in Historic Preservation Program and Master Degree in Historic Preservation.

Many of the venues that we will visit during the conference – the Egyptian Theater,  the Ennis House, Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Barnsdale and Hollywood & Vine—are projects that Peyton was involved in.

He has provided leadership in any project he has been involved with.   He is a fellow of the American Institute of Architect and has won numerous awards from the National Trust, CPF, the Cultural Heritage Commission of the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Conservancy.

1991   

• Robert Chattel

1992

• Tony Ciani (San Diego)
• Robert Power
• Pamela Seager
• Steve McAvoy

1993

• Margaret Bach (Santa Monica)
• Lorie Garcia (Santa Clara)
• Huell Howser (Hollywood)
• Joseph Prevratil (Long Beach)
• Save the Auditorium! & Sacramento Old City Association (Sacramento)

1994

• Toni Symonds (Sacramento)
• Napa County Landmarks, Inc. (Napa)
• Kathy Burns (San Francisco)
• Douglas Wheeler, California Resources Secretary (Sacramento)
• State Department of General Services (Sacramento)

1995

• American Youth Hostel/Llewellyn Williams Mansion (Sacramento)
• Gordon Chin & the Chinatown Resources Center (San Francisco)
• Earl Douglass & the Friends of Douglass Hall (Atherton)
• Pater Janopaul & Anthony Block, J. Peter Block Companies (Long Beach)
• Victoria Avenue Forever (Riverside)

1996

• Bill Burkhart (Santa Cruz)
• CalTrans District 4 Environmental Branch (Oakland)
• Russell Fey (Fresno, posthumous)
• Ron Loveridge (Riverside)
• Vincent Marsh (San Francisco)
• Kitty Monahan (Santa Clara County)

1997

• Annette Deglow (Sacramento)
• Los Angeles Conservancy
• Xandra Grube (Oakland)
• Old Towne Preservation Association (Orange)
• Riverside Housing Development Corporation (Riverside)
• Peter Devereaux (Long Beach)

1998

• Highland Park Heritage Trust (Los Angeles)
• City of La Quinta, Certified Local Government program (La Quinta)
• Sandra Elder (Sacramento)
• Nellie Longsworth, Preservation Action (Washington D.C.)

1999

• Alan Hess (Rancho Santa Margarita)
• Preservation Action Council of San Jose (San Jose)
• Adolfo V. Nodal (Los Angeles)
• John Snyder (Sacramento)
• City of San Mateo (San Mateo)

2000

• Jean Bruce Poole (Los Angeles)
• City of Monterey – Grant Program to Restore Historic Buildings
• Ken Garcia, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco)
• UCLA Capital Programs Division (Los Angeles)

2001

• Jane Carter Bauman (Colusa)
• College of the Redwoods (Eureka)
• Jack London Neighborhood Association (Oakland)
• Orchids & Onions (San Diego)
• Stanford University Seismic Retrofit Program (Stanford)

2002

• Berkeley Historical Plaque Project (Berkeley)
• Historic Preservation Program, University of Southern California
• (Los Angeles)
• History Mystery Tour, Napa County Landmarks (Napa)
• Save Our Heritage Organisation (San Diego)
• Fred Sutton (Santa Clara)

2003

• Vonn Marie May (San Diego)
• Dennis Richardson (Sacramento)
• Sacramento Housing & Redevelopment Agency (Locke)
• Save San Mateo High School! (San Mateo)
• Robert Winter (Pasadena)

2004

• Dr. Knox Mellon (Lifetime Achievement Award)
• Friends of the Raymond Theatre (Pasadena)
• Preservation Review for Herrman Hall, (Monterey)
• Leslie Rudd (St. Helena)
• Save Our Neighborhoods (Santa Monica)
• Robert “Bud” Soto
• Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (San Francisco)

2005

• Preservationist of the Year:  Melvyn Green, P.E.
• Legislator of the Year:  Denise Ducheny (San Diego)
• Dogpatch Neighborhood Association (San Francisco)
• John King, San Francisco Chronicle (San Francisco
• The Committee to Save Simon Rodia’s Watts Towers (Los Angeles)
• California State Parks (Hearst Ranch, Ahmanson Ranch, Playa Vista)
• Julius Shulman (Los Angeles)
• Marion Mitchell-Wilson (Riverside)

2006

• Lifetime Achievement:  Senator James Mills (Coronado)
• Preservationist of the Year:  Enid Sales (Monterey)
• Ry Cooder (Los Angeles)
• Friends of the Music Concourse (San Francisco)The John Marsh Historic Trust
• Britt Jewett (Santa Barbara)
• Edna Kimbro (posthumous)

2007
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2008
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