The Nathaniel Bowditch House, HSI headquartersTo Salemites, 17th, 18th and 19th century dwellings and buildings are part of the everyday backdrop we see on our way to the post office, coffee shop, and park. Historic architecture is part of our daily lives. So much so that we often forget how unique the fabric of our port city is. Now’s your chance to recognize those projects and people who have helped preserve it in the context of how we live now.

Take a look around your neighborhood, street, or even your own home and nominate a recently completed renovation project, preservation-minded person, or group of preservation-minded people for an Historic Salem, Inc. (HSI) 2011 Preservation Award. The deadline for submissions is April 15, 2011. Find the nomination form here.

Hannah Diozzi, the Chair of the Salem Historical Commission and one of the approximately seven jurors on the Preservation Awards Selection Committee, notes that the criteria for the project awards are generally based upon a combination of The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties from the National Park Service and the Salem Historical Commission Guidelines Notebook. She summarizes, “The kind of thing we look for is that the renovation is appropriate to the period when the house was built.”

Nominations for projects located in the four historic districts: McIntire, Salem Common, Derby Street and Lafayette Street are welcome as are projects located elsewhere in the city, like North and South Salem, the Willows, Bridge Street, and Gallows Hill.

Categories for nomination include: private residences, commercial properties, publicly-owned properties, properties owned by non-profits, landscape projects, and individuals/groups (companies, institutions, organizations) who have made notable contributions to Salem’s historic preservation.

Last year’s winners included D.I.Y homeowners, homeowners working with home professionals, developers, and the Peabody Essex Museum along with the Salem Fire Department for their respective disaster-management plan and response to the two-alarm fire at the Ropes Mansion in the summer of 2009.

This year’s winners will be recognized on May 18, 2011 at Historic Salem, Inc.’s Annual Meeting and will receive a certificate as well as a one year membership (or membership renewal) to Historic Salem, Inc.

You can support Salem’s historic preservation by making a nomination. Spread the word.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast and North Shore Art Throb