Bookmarks, a non-profit organization specializing in the literary arts, was looking for a new location to house their bookstore and office as well as provide event and meeting space for readers and writers, and a coffee bar and café. They were able to find their new home in an abandoned service garage tucked behind Foothills on Fourth Street.
Bookmarks worked with the building’s owner and hired contractor, LMI Builders Inc, to completely overhaul the building. The existing steel sashed windows were restored and reglazed and structural improvements were made to the mass masonry walls. All new building systems were installed as were common area restrooms. Finally, a continuous walking path from Fourth Street to the bookstore was created by converting rear alleyways into new community space.
The Brock-Horn-Maslin House - Joseph Winston Award
Contractor: LMI Builders
The Brock-Horn-Maslin House is a contributing structure in the West End Historic District and is one of the fanciest Victorian dwellings in the district. It features irregular massing, wood shingled gables with sawnwork gable peak ornaments, a tower above the entrance bay with a Palladian window, and an ornate front porch.
In 2016, LMI Builders Inc. completed a total restoration of the house which had become derelict. The project included all new building systems, extensive façade rehabilitation and structural improvements. All new work was completed in satisfactory condition for the National and State Historic Preservation Office guidelines.
Salem College Student Center - Mayor's Award
Architect: Lambert Architecture + Interiors
The Student Center for Salem College is the first new non-residential building constructed on campus in over 30 years. Designed to echo traditional Moravian building styles, the center is a thoroughly modern building that incorporates state-of-the-art technology while maintaining the aesthetic character of the campus.
Salem College chose to build for the future when constructing the Center with an emphasis on sustainability and preservation. Utilizing such techniques as native plantings, high-efficiency mechanical systems, high recycled content building materials, and regionally sourced materials, the Center was certified as a LEED Silver building in 2015 by the Green Building Council.
Out Door Creations - City Council Award
Decorator/Designer: Danny Tuttle
Out Door Creations is located in West Winston-Salem in what was previously an empty gas station. Years of being a gas station had taken its toll on the building and a complete overall of the interior and exterior was needed before the business could open.
Renovations to the exterior began with pressure washing, painting and removing the old vending machines and pay phone. The underground fuel tanks were removed and new concrete was poured. The existing gas station canopy was utilized and a new pergola was custom built to provide an outdoor display area. New signage was added to the canopy and building and two new road signs were installed. Custom wooden planter boxes and tables were added for additional display space and new lighting was installed for a beautiful look at night.
Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden - County Commissioners Award
Curator: Adrienne Roethling
Executive Director: John Whisnant
Founded in 1998, the Paul J. Ciener Botanical Garden set out on a mission to create a garden of unique beauty which would inspire, enlighten, and connect people of all ages to the world of plants, gardening, and horticulture; and to surprise visitors with their beauty and scope. The Garden opened to the public in 2011 and continues to innovate new spaces with each seasonal change.
The Garden creates a departure from the downtown streetscape providing a natural oasis full of aesthetically pleasing and aromatic plantings. The garden layout was designed to provide infinite visual stimulation as visitors travel through each planting area. The design of the welcome center distinguishes the Garden from the surrounding properties and enhances the visual appeal of the garden to visitors and Kernersville residents alike lending itself to a number of public and private events.
The Historical East Winston Mural - Benjamin Forsyth Award
Artists: Marianne DiNapoli-Mylet and Donnell Williams
Located on the side façade of a corner convenience store, the Historical East Winston Mural is a storybook collection of historical pictures of the African American history in East Winston from the 1920’s to present. The mural captivates every onlooker with its representation of the people and stories that embody the neighborhood.
Marva Reid, with the East/Northeast Winston Neighborhood Association, introduced the idea for the mural to City Council Member Derwin Montgomery in 2010. Once an appropriate location was selected, artists Marianne DiNiapoli-Mylet and Donell Williams worked together to create a design that would honor the people and history of the community. Painting began in August 2015 with the completed mural unveiled to the public in November 2015.
Quarry Park - Flora Ann Bynum Award
Architect: STITCH Design Shop
Once an active granite quarry from the 1920s until it began to fill with water and was abandoned in 1988, Quarry Park is now a 228-acre publicly owned park just southeast of downtown Winston-Salem. Through donations from Vulcan Materials and the Leight Family, the City of Winston-Salem has been able to create a recreational amenity that capitalizes on the natural setting and stunning panoramic views.
Phase I of the park was completed and opened to the public in 2017. It includes a dramatic observation pier, nicknamed “The Boom” that was designed like a camera lens, expanding in height as it approaches the quarry’s rim and focuses on Winston-Salem’s skyline. On clear days, visitors can see Pilot Mountain and the Sauratown Mountains north of the City. The lower level of the pier houses a comfort station with a gabion exterior to represent the quarried stone used throughout the City’s infrastructure and buildings. The Waughtown Connector greenway runs through the park providing a bicycle and pedestrian connection between the Waughtown neighborhood and Downtown Winston-Salem and Salem Lake.
Forsyth County Central Library - AIA Award
Architect: RATIO Architects Inc.
This visionary project replaced a dysfunctional layout and dated library infrastructure with a transformative, 21st-Century “third place” that responds to the scale and energy of downtown Winston-Salem. The result of a wide-ranging public engagement process, the new building re-imagines the flagship library branch to appeal to community members of all ages and interests.
The design team’s guiding strategy was to consolidate the library program into a clean, contemporary, simple volume that allows seamless connection between the various parts of the building and a more flexible layout to accommodate the evolution of the library into the future. The building’s exterior features expansive walls of glass and abundant plantings that create a connection with nature and the surrounding cityscape. Sustainability was also a key consideration for this project exhibited most significantly with the reuse of approximately half of the existing structure.
James Grace, Sr. - George Black Award
James Ross Grace Sr. was born and raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After serving in the Army during World War II, he worked for RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company and Western Electric as well as being self-employed dabbling in radio repair work.
In 1955, he formed Grace Masonry Construction Company becoming a brick mason and developing many building projects throughout Winston-Salem and the surrounding triad area as well as throughout North Carolina. In addition to training his children in the masonry trade and business, he also provided employment for many in the community including hiring handicapped workers before it became a national initiative.
Mr. Grace worked for 50-plus years doing brick and concrete work within the residential and business sectors, including general road and highway construction projects. His handy work can be found throughout the City in projects such as Fire Station Number 17, Salem Baptist Church, Winston-Salem First Assembly of God Church, the Coliseum Annex and East Winston Shopping Center.
The Happy Hill Cemetery Friends - Community Appearance Award
The Happy Hill Cemetery is located at 888 Willow Street on the highest ground in the historic Happy Hill neighborhood and has long been an African American burial ground. The cemetery suffered much deterioration over time and many tombstones have been lost, overturned or covered. Those that remain mark the graves of masons, veterans, ministers, infants, and other citizens.
In 2007, with the cemetery horribly overgrown with weeds and brush and being used as a trash dumping ground, a group of volunteers, led by Maurice Pitts Johnson, came together to reclaim the grounds. The Happy Hill Cemetery Friends embarked on a multifaceted reclamation project that has included countless hours of cleaning, weeding and trash and debris removal; fostering a successful relationship with Rising Ebenezer Baptist Church to assume ownership of unclaimed cemetery lots, and developing an educational program to inform others about the history of the cemetery.
The Samuel & Sarah Stauber Farm - Classic Award
In 1850, Samuel B. Stauber, with his wife Sarah and six children owned and farmed 458 acres outside of the Moravian community of Bethania. When a neighboring farmhouse burned in 1851, Mr. Stauber purchased the 492-acre property and built his two-story, frame, Greek-Revival-style house on the newly acquired land. The family moved into the new house in September 1852.
In 1860, the average farm in Forsyth County contained less than 200 acres with less than seventy-five acres of improved land and was valued under $2,500. By comparison, Samuel Stauber had acquired 800 acres valued at $5,500 by 1860, 200 of which were improved signifying the prosperity of the Stauber family. Today, the Samual and Sarah Stauber Farm exists as one of the finest remaining representations of a prosperous mid-19th century farmstead.
The farmstead retains a high degree of integrity of setting with the farm complex reflecting the pattern of Forsyth County’s agrarian development during the mid to late 19th century. The complex is highly significant for its complement of outbuildings, most notable being the heavy-timber farm barn, which is believed to be the only one of its kind in the county remaining in its original location. Other support structures still existing on the property include a pack house, smokehouse, and corn crib.