[Preservation] A.C.O.R.N. Golden Hammer Awards article

[Jennie Dotts]

http://www.richmond.com/locallife/output.aspx?Article_ID=4428910&Vertical_ID=127&tier=1&position=2
Hammer Time
The Golden Hammer awards recognize do-gooders in the fields of commercial and residential historic preservation.
 Katelyn WyszynskiRichmond.comThursday, September 28, 2006 
Many Richmonders are really hitting the nail on the head in terms of commercial and residential historic preservation. Their reward? A Golden Hammer presented by the Alliance to Conserve Old Richmond Neighborhoods (A.C.O.R.N.).

In 2000, A.C.O.R.N. began giving out hammer-shaped trophies as a means of encouraging good and historically sensitive renovations, said Jennie Dotts, executive director of A.C.O.R.N.

"We did not know of any awards or recognition for people who were doing the right thing by their houses, and we wanted to recognize those individuals who had done a lot in terms of neighborhood conservation," Dotts said.

The nonprofit group created different awards for excellence in different fields of conservation. Each was named after a person who played an instrumental role in renovating part of Richmond in the past, Dotts said. Examples include Andrew Asch and Marguerite Crumley. 

During the '60s and '70s, the swinging strip that we know now as Shockoe Slip was a forlorn and lonely slice of the city. Asch, whom A.C.O.R.N. refers to as the Father of Adaptive Reuse, began turning buildings above restaurants and behind storefronts into comfortable living quarters, Dotts said. 

"Now we have this wonderful commercial and residential district," she said, noting that this development concept had not crossed anyone's mind before the 1970s.

This year, Ed Eck is taking home the Andrew Asch Developer Award for his involvement in livening up Uptown. Most downtown dwellers are familiar with the brightly colored buildings that line West Main and Cary Streets, and Eck is the man to thank, Dotts said.

Prior to his restoration work, "the residential sense of neighborhood had eroded, and [West Main Street was] just a thoroughfare for people getting from downtown to the West End," Dotts said. "The idea of colorful sides made people stop and notice."

By A.C.O.R.N.'s standards, Eck is "continuing to develop in the spirit of Andy Asch." 

Now, Uptown is really looking up. 

Similarly, Roy Burgess helped turn West Grace Street back into a neighborhood, by turning it into a two-way street. The change slowed traffic, and helped people to stop and see a beautiful part of town that they had previously been flying by on their way out of the city. Since this work "he's seen the resurgence of renovation and new families in the area," Dotts said.  Burgess will receive the Neighborhood Conservator Award.

Another renowned Richmonder, Marguerite Crumley, has a Golden Hammer given in her name for her work done in raising awareness about the historic district of Church Hill and helping save old City Hall, Dotts said. This year the Virginia Department of Historic Resources will receive the Marguerite Crumley Preservation Award for supporting the archaeological survey of the Lumpkin's slave jail site in Shockoe Bottom.

Architecture critic Ed Slipek will take home a hammer for The Edmund A. Rennolds, Jr. Excellence in Architecture Award, as a result of his raising awareness of the importance of architectural excellence. 

Keith Van Allen, an art history graduate from VCU and long-time animator for Disney and other animation groups, found a unique way to support conservation causes. 

Van Allen first got involved in architectural preservation advocacy from researching the work of his grandfather, D. Wiley Anderson, who designed a great number of buildings, mansions and houses around Richmond from about 1895 into the 1930s, he said.

>From battling demolition in the early 1990s to helping to save the historic buildings and developing Grace and Broad Streets in later years, Van Allen has used cartoons to communicate to the community. 

"Once you get people's visual attention, they tend to listen to the arguments and the facts," Van Allen said. "This is what cartoonists have always done, and I was proud to wield my pen for such a great cause."

His powerful cartoons have won him a hammer for Preservation Advocacy.

"He's an example we like to hold up to people and say 'whatever your talent and strength' use it to get what you care about and support the cause."

Nomination forms for the Golden Hammer Awards were available for many months, and were anonymously submitted by friends, family or other contacts. An independent judging panel from A.C.O.R.N. reviewed all of the applications and determined the winners. 



a.. The sold-out Golden Hammer Awards celebration takes place tonight, Sept. 28, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, at the Bankuet Place, 1129 Hull Street, formerly the Mechanics and Merchants Bank, built in 1912. 


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