The Society of American Travel Writers
PHOENIX AWARDS
to give appropriate recognition for Individuals or Organizations
actively involved in conservation, preservation, beautification
and anti-pollution campaigns which further the growth and
appeal of North American travel destinations. On this page we are proud to present the 2009 Phoenix Award winners which should bring to mind other individuals and organizations deserving to be nominated for this award.
The Phoenix Award committee, chaired by Peggy Bendel, received and analyzed nominations before recommending the following winners to the SATW board of directors, who subsequently approved the recommendation. For more information about the awards and nominating procedures please click the links or email questions to Peggy Bendel , the Phoenix Awards Committee Chair (2005-2006), tel. 212-.725-0707, ext.109. 2009 Winners
Journey Through Hallowed Ground, Waterford, Virginia Edison and Ford Winter Estates, Ft. Myers, Florida World Birding Center, McAllen, Texas Gerding Theater at the Armory, Portland, Oregon Maine Huts and Trails, Kingfield, Maine 2008 Winners
(text courtesy of SATW Traveler, SATW's member publication) Bedford Springs Resort, Pennsylvania, which includes the Bedford Springs Historic Hotel National Historic District with seven historically significant buildings, a restored golf course and eight natural mineral springs. Its $120 million renovation places it among America’s finest remaining examples of the mineral springs resort phenomenon of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Colonial Theatre, Berkshires. Originally opened in 1903, this Gilded Aged structure has been restored to a working theatre, combining stunning architectural features with contemporary entertainment. Designed by noted 19th-century theater architect J.B. McElfatrick, the Colonial’s unique acoustic properties have made it a recording site for James Taylor, among others. The Quays, Manchester, England. This waterfront area has undergone an unparalleled $68 million transformation from unused and derelict docks to vibrant leisure and cultural hub featuring three iconic visitor attractions: the Manchester United Football Club, the Imperial War Museum North and the Lowry, which includes many leisure and tourism businesses. The Tourism Cares for America Program brings volunteers in the tourism industry together to clean up and restore historically and culturally significant tourism sites. In 2008, nearly 350 volunteers helped to repair and revitalize the Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans, a victim of Hurricane Katrina. In one day volunteers did what would have taken park staff months to accomplish. This nearly $100,000 project included tourism partners from throughout New Orleans and Louisiana Chambers Bay, Washington is a multifunction, municipally-owned parkland fully restored from a blighted gravel quarry and water treatment plant to miles of hike and bike trails surrounding an 18-hole golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. The course has already been recognized as the Best New Course in America by several major golf publications, and it will host the 2010 U.S. Amateur and 2015 U.S. Open championships. 2007 Winners
• Deadwood, South Dakota - more than $200 million has been dedicated to the preservation and restoration of this more than a century-old gold mining town. Limited-stakes gaming has generated funds that have helped create more than 2,400 new jobs and restored much of its infrastructure. Nominated by Tom Adkinson and Bob Willis.
• Martin House, Buffalo, New York - this Frank Lloyd Wright designed complex was owned by one of Wright's best clients and is part of the Frederick Law Olmsted-designed Parkside East Historic District. This timely restoration of what Wright himself called his "opus" has spurred additional Buffalo restoration and revived Buffalo's legacy of noteworthy architecture. Nominated by Deborah Williams.
• The Pennsylvania Wilds - this regional ecotourism and economic development initiative focuses on 12 northern Pennsylvania counties comprising six million acres, including 2.1 million acres of public lands. Already, the initiative has established a Elk Scenic Drive, Main Street beautifications, an expanded Rail-Trail and river bank clean-ups. This has been a very strong public-private partnership. Nominated by Ed Wetschler.
• White River State Park, Indianapolis, Indiana - stretching 250 acres around the White River, Indiana's only urban park has now linked the Indianapolis Zoo, White River Gardens, Indiana State Museum, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, NCAA Hall of Champions, Victory Fields and the Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial with bike and walking trails and a canoe route. Nominated by Jackie Sheckler Finch.
2006 Winners
(text courtesy of Travel Writer, SATW's member publication) Phoenix rises in Canada, California, Ohio and Arizona
Efforts to restore and conserve seven important nature or historic sites in Canada, California, Ohio and Arizona were recognized with SATW Phoenix Awards at the Society’s annual convention in Santiago, Chile. The annual awards, given since 1969 to recognize conservation and preservation efforts of individuals and organizations, went this year to:
Irving Eco-Centre, “La Dune de Boutouche,” Saint Edouard-de-Kent, New Brunswick, Canada One of two nominations by Helen Jean Newman, the Irving Eco-Centre was developed to preserve and restore the 7.5 mile Boutouche Dune, one of the great sand dunes on the northeastern coastline of North America, and is part of an ecotourism research and development approach that ensures that the beach and coastal areas remain accessible to local inhabitants while stimulating the local tourism economy. Research projects include dune monitoring and restoration, an insect inventory, a butterfly count, a migratory shorebird survey, a piping plover monitoring project and geomorphology (the study of the forms and the evolution of the earth’s crust’s relief features on the Boutouche spit). Identified as a “Major Attraction” by the Government of New Brunswick, the site welcomes an average of 140,000 visitors annually. Dennison and Ann Tate, The Cape Enrage Project,
Waterside, New Brunswick, Canada Cape Enrage, also nominated by Helen Jean Newman, is a light station on the Bay of Fundy, one of the Marine Wonders of the World, with tides rising as much as 53 vertical feet. Cape Enrage, a light station and fog alarm since 1838, offers spectacular views of the tide from its towering cliff. The current light tower is over 150 years old. In 1992, under the guidance of Dennison and Ann Tate, a group of local high school students began restoring the station and preserving, protecting and promoting the site as a tourism destination and educational setting. From 1993, when there were six students working for eight weeks painting and scraping the exterior of the old keepers’ dwelling, the project has grown to employ 25 students annually for 20 summer weeks. A small restaurant, day adventures (rappelling, climbing, guided hikes, initiative games, a ropes course and kayaking), fine arts workshops, “eduventure” programs for youth, and multi-day adventure packages for adults are now available. The Forks Renewal Corporation, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Named for its position—where the Assiniboine River flows into the Red—the Forks was a gathering point 6,000 years ago for early aboriginal groups, a center of the fur trade in the 18th- 19th centuries and of rail yards in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Forks, nominated by Bea Broda Connolly, is now Winnipeg’s top tourism attraction, with more than 4 million visitors annually, after a $33 million renovation and refurbishment of the 56-acre site and buildings. The Forks offers more than 200 events annually, many of them free. Three levels of government have cooperated in its renewal (Canada, Province of Manitoba and City of Winnipeg). Leland Stanford Mansion State Historic Park, Sacramento, CA Nominator Janet Fullwood describes the Leland Stanford Mansion as a stunning example of the splendor and elegance of the Victorian era in California: a 19,000-square-foot mansion with soaring 17-foot ceilings, historic paintings and original furnishings that belonged to the Stanford family. Built in 1856 by Gold Rush merchant Sheldon Fogus, the mansion was purchased by Stanford, California governor in 1862-1863, and served as the office of three governors. It later housed the Stanford Home for Children. Purchased by the state, which spent 14 years and $22 million on restoration and rehabilitation, the mansion is now open to the public as a museum and serves as the state’s official reception center for world leaders. Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy
(for Crissy Field), San Francisco, CA Originally a rich salt marsh and gathering ground for native people, Crissy Field was later the landing site of Spanish explorers and Russian, English and Boston traders. In 1915, the Panama Pacific International Exposition was held here, and shortly thereafter the area became a military airfield. With generous community support, Crissy Field has been transformed from a hazardous waste site into a spectacular national parkland, an effort that required the removal of 85,000 tons of hazardous materials and 40 acres of asphalt and the planting of 100,000 native plants by individuals and groups. The 100-acre site is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the Presidio of San Francisco, all of which were designated a National Historic Landmark. Community volunteers continue to play an important role in sustaining long-term stewardship of this national parkland, said nominator Lynn Ferrin.
The Wilds (The International Center for the Preservation of Wild Animals, Inc.), Cumberland, OH The Wilds, nearly 10,000 acres of reclaimed, surface-mined land--a gift from American Electric Power--opened to the public in 1994. Thousands of acres have been developed and divided into large sections where African, Asian, and North American wildlife are managed. The Wilds, says nominator Jackie Sheckler Finch, offers visitors an experience like no other in North America. The center differs fundamentally from traditional zoological institutions. The space available for conservation programs, the breadth of disciplines, and the focus on science make the Wilds unique in North America and perhaps in the world. Fox Tucson Theatre Foundation, Tucson, AZ The Fox Tucson Theatre, Tucson’s only movie palace, nominated by Edie Jarolim, saw its heyday between 1930 and 1945. It showed films and offered occasional live entertainment until it closed in 1974. Designated as a Nationally Significant Building on the National Register of Historic Places, it sat vacant for more than 30 years before being purchased by the nonprofit Fox Tucson Theatre Foundation. Following a six-year, $13 million rehabilitation and restoration, the theatre reopened on Dec. 31, 2005. It has become a linchpin of downtown redevelopment and cultural renewal. 2005 Winners
This year's awards, which were announced at the annual convention in Las Vegas, singled out: (Descriptions are courtesy of the Travel Writer, SATW's newsletter)
- Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park, Las Vegas, NV
Nominated by Don and Betty Martin
Old Las Vegas Mormon Fort State Historic Park is in sharp contrast to the über-glitz for which Las Vegas is known. It marks the area's first settlement in 1855 - 50 years before the city itself was established - and contains the oldest structure in Nevada, a portion of the original adobe fort. There's also a visitor center and more work is underway. As part of the state park system, the site isn't about making money; it's about historic preservation, an anomaly in Sin City, a community that is all about "new." It should be celebrated, in part, because "through the efforts of local citizens, it has withstood 40 years of attempts to develop it as a commercial facility."
- Knapp Block Rehabilitation, Columbia State Historic Park, Columbia,CA
Nominated by Don and Betty Martin
This state park is all about gold and its place in California history. The town of Columbia, established in 1850, was purchased by the state in 1945. Today, it has been fully restored and contains the largest collection of gold-rush era buildings in America. It welcomes more than half a million tourists a year who learn about the rush that triggered "one of the largest mass migrations in history."
- Jungfraujoch-Top of Europe, Jungfrau Railways Corporation, Bern,Switzerland
Nominated by Bea Broda Connolly
Jungfraujoch - Top of Europe is in Bea Broda Connolly's words "a glacier-and-grotto world" containing Europe's largest glacier and the Alps' first UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. The Jungfrau Railway opened in 1912, operates 365 days a year and makes this important site accessible to all. Overcoming stunning challenges of weather and terrain, the railway invested money to modernize infrastructure and to make the site more compelling with restaurants, a research station, observation terrace, Ice Palace and more. Notes Connolly, "It is exceptionally equipped, safe and contemporary, while utterly respecting the balance of nature in this otherwise challenging-to-reach area."
- Pamplin Historical Park and the National Museum of the Civil WarSoldier, Petersburg, VA
Nominated by Nancy Belcher
This historic park was described by Pulitzer Prize-winning author James McPherson as perhaps "the best Civil War site yet." Nancy Belcher noted that preserving it as an historic site is "surely more beneficial to travel and tourism than a condo development." Facilities at the 422-acre site include a battlefield and interpretive center, artifact collection, restored antebellum homes (including General Grant's headquarters) and costumed interpreters. The site also serves as the staging ground for a Civil War Adventure Camp and recreated military encampment.
2004 Winners
to give appropriate recognition for Individuals or Organizations
actively involved in conservation, preservation, beautification
and anti-pollution campaigns which further the growth and
appeal of North American travel destinations. On this page we are proud to present the 2004 Phoenix Award winners which should bring to mind other individuals and organizations deserving to be nominated for this award.
The Phoenix Award committee, chaired by Jeanne Westphal (2003-2004), received and analyzed nominations before recommending the following winners to the SATW board of directors, who subsequently approved the recommendation. For more information about the awards and nominating procedures please click the links or email questions to Peggy Bendel , the Phoenix Awards Committee Chair (2005-2006), tel. 212-.725-0707, ext.109. 2004 Winners
This year's awards, which were announced at the convention in St. Moritz, singled out:
The San Francisco Ferry Building in San Francisco, California, nominated by Elgy Gillespie. In April 2003 the landmark building reopened to the public after an extensive four-year renovation.
The Ferry Building Marketplace -- a world class public food market -- is organized along a dramatic indoor street, the Nave, which runs the entire length of the building and overlooks the bay, with the bridge in the background and the campanile towering above.
The Marketplace represents a culmination of more than 30 years of Bay Area food culture, and is devoted to sustainable, artisan products, housed in one of San Francisco's most beautiful public spaces.
The International Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin, nominated by Alfred Borcover. From its inception, ICF has worked to save these charismatic, graceful birds from extinction and to save their habitats on five continents. The birds can weigh about 24 pounds and stand 5 feet tall. Visitors to the 100-acre preserve can follow some three miles of trails to the bird enclosures through restored oak savanna, prairie and wetland, and can view a film about ICF and crane preservation. ICF is the only place in the world where visitors can see all 15 crane species, which inhabit five of the seven continents.
The Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area in Yuma, Arizona, nominated by Jan and Dave Houser. The mission of Yuma Crossing is to conserve, enhance and interpret the Heritage Area for future generations through collaboration and partnerships.
The
Yuma community particularly seeks to reclaim its natural and historic connection to the Colorado River. While the history of the community of Yuma is inextricably bound to its location at the narrows of the Colorado, the community turned its back on the river. Growth was directed away from the river and access to it within the city limits became the exception rather than the rule. Dammed, tamed and utilized for agricultural purposes, the river remained a vital but largely unseen element in the growth and prosperity of Yuma. The designation as a National Heritage Area is the product of years of community action, and as a consequence, three cutting-edge projects are underway : the West Wetlands, a 135-acre city dump reclaimed as Yuma's largest regional park; Gateway Park, a 21-acre site that was the location of multiple historic crossing sites that opened up the Great Southwest; and East Wetlands, a 1,500-acre reclamation and re-vegetation project that has grabbed national attention as an environmental project that will restore the mighty Colorado to its place in history.
The Southwest School of Art and Craft in San Antonio, Texas, nominated by June Naylor. The school spreads over a gorgeous campus in the heart of old San Antonio and serves as one of the highlights of any traveler's visit to the city.
The school rests at one end of River Walk, one of Texas' most highly prized tourist destinations, and provides a lovely place to roam beneath the canopy of live oak trees over cobblestone patios to enjoy the quiet of a restored convent and to see the beautiful art exhibitions. About 200,000 people visit the school annually, and 4,000 adults and children take part in classes each year. Another 10,000 youngsters from lower income areas are taught in outreach programs in the community annually.
The Deering Estate at Cutler in Miami, Florida, nominated by Ethel Blum. The estate, managed by the Miami-Dade County Department of Parks and Recreation, is an island in the midst of a rapidly developing suburban area. The estate is considered by many to be one of the most important public properties in the county.
It has been an asset for residents and visitors since it was acquired by the county in 1985. An environmental, archaeological, historical, cultural and architectural preserve, the Deering Estate encompasses 450 acres that include globally endangered pine rockland, tropical hardwood hammock habitat, mangrove forest, salt marsh, and an offshore dune island, Chicken Key.
The property also contains five historic and architecturally significant buildings: the Deering Stone House, the Richmond Cottage, the Pump House, Carriage House and Power House. The oldest is the Richmond Cottage, built in 1896 and expanded in 1900 to become the first inn between Coconut Grove and Key West.
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