Preserve Chattanooga, the city's historical preservation nonprofit, hosted awards to honor projects and people working to save and promote Scenic City history.
The ceremony Thursday night at the Read House, hosted in partnership with the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Interior Architecture and Design program, featured physical awards that were pieces of saved Chattanooga history.
The awards were made from wood salvaged from deteriorating canopies at the Chattanooga Choo Choo. Crews tore down those canopies earlier this year over safety concerns.
"The Chattanooga Preservation Awards is an opportunity to recognize the good work being done to save and repurpose our historic buildings," Todd Morgan, executive director of Preserve Chattanooga, said in an email. "They show that it is both financially possible and rewarding to pursue such projects."
(READ MORE: Group mourns demolition of historic building for Drury hotel)
Donovan Rypkema, a leading expert on the economics of preservation and president of Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Strategies International, delivered a keynote address at the ceremony focused on how saving historic structures boosts local economies.
His address noted that "historic districts across the country routinely generate more job growth, higher property values, increased tourism and higher tax revenue than other parts of a city, even in economically depressed communities," Morgan said.
Here are the individuals and groups recognized for leading preservation efforts.
AWARD WINNERS
-- Preservation Project of the Year: HKS Holdings and HK Architects, for the ongoing transformation of R.H. Hunt's 1920s Chattanooga Bank Building into the Waymark Hotel, part of the Tapestry Collection by Hilton
-- Preservation Stewardship Award: Second Presbyterian Church, for its care of the 1890 building at the corner of Pine and West Seventh streets designed by renowned architect R.H. Hunt
-- Heritage Tourism Award: Jim Ogden, former superintendent and current park historian at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, for promoting cultural tourism at a historic site
-- Residential Preservation Award: Daryl Smith of Hope Restoration, for a project at 4812 Alabama Ave. in the St. Elmo neighborhood
(SIGN UP: Get Business news from the Times Free Press in your inbox five days a week by going to timesfreepress.com/business)
-- Preservation Leadership Award: Ann Gray, former executive director of Cornerstone Inc., the predecessor to Preserve Chattanooga, for providing three decades of preservation expertise
-- Commercial Preservation Award: White Duck Taco, for repurposing a historic space on McCallie Avenue
-- President's Award: Southern Spear Properties, for restoring the facade of the Park Hotel building, a 1915 structure designed by R.H. Hunt
-- Preservation Education Award: Dana Moody, professor of interior design and coordinator of the historic preservation minor at UTC
Contact business reporter Daniel Dassow at [email protected] or 423-757-6318.
Staff File photo / The 10-story former Chattanooga Bank building on Eighth Street between Market and Broad streets is being converted into a 148-room Tapestry Collection by Hilton hotel called The Waymark. The project took home the top award from Preserve Chattanooga on Sept. 18, 2025.Contributed photo / Heidi Hefferlin and Alex Reyland accept an award for Preservation Project of the Year on behalf of HK Architects for their work on the Chattanooga Bank Building/Waymark Hotel.