Historical Commission Announces 2016 Preservation Award Recipients
The Cambridge Historical Commission is pleased to announce the recipients of the 20th annual Cambridge Preservation Awards. Inaugurated in 1997, the program celebrates outstanding historic preservation projects and the commitment of the individuals that make Cambridge a more attractive and desirable place in which to live and work.
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This year’s awards ceremony took place on May 25 at the MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Avenue. MIT is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its move to Cambridge and has also recently completed the renovation and restoration of the Simons Building, the Morris and Sophie Chang Building, 195 Albany Street, the MIT Chapel, Kresge Auditorium, and the DuPont Gymnasium.
Winning projects include residential restorations at 194 Franklin Street, 27 Grant Street, and 75 Norfolk Street. The renovation by Just-A-Start of the Bishop Allen Apartments at 70 and 77 Bishop Allen Drive, 51 and 62 Norfolk Street for affordable housing was honored, as was the restoration and renewal of Dunster House by Harvard University. Winning commercial projects are Capital One Café at 24 John F. Kennedy Street for restoration of masonry arches and storefronts; Clover Restaurant at 1326 Massachusetts Avenue, for restoration of its decorative 1913 tile interior; the adaptive re-use of the former MBTA Conductors Building at 112 Mt. Auburn Street as a restaurant space; the restoration and adaptive re-use of the former Hathaway Bakery complex at 33 Richdale Avenue for new apartments near Porter Square; and Verizon’s full restoration of its brick facility at 10 Ware Street.
The Anthony C. Platt Award, which honors a project in a neighborhood conservation district, was awarded to the exterior renovation of a Mansard house at 12-14 Trowbridge Street in the Mid Cambridge Neighborhood Conservation District.
Several participants in the Cambridge Community Development Department’s Storefronts-For-All program received Certificates of Merit including retail improvements at Loyal Nine, 660 Cambridge Street; a first floor retail space conversion to dance studio at The Dance Complex, 536 Massachusetts Avenue; and a new restaurant retrofit for Shepard Restaurant at 1 Shepard Street.
Two individuals were honored for their contributions to historic preservation and the community. Jane Rabb was recognized for her commitment to the preservation of her home, a former 1872 stable remodeled in 1919 by noted local architect Lois Lilley Howe. Richard C. Rossi, soon to retire as Cambridge’s City Manager, was honored for his tireless dedication to improving the lives of all Cantabrigians.
The list of award winners, contributing design professionals, contractors, and consultants is available on the website of the Cambridge Historical Commission, www.cambridgema.gov/historic/aboutchc/preservationawards.