Past DCA Recipients

2011 Dana Crawford Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation:

Ruth Falkenberg and Larry Nelson have set a standard of civic engagement, intelligent development and historic preservation for decades in Colorado. They specialize in the development and redevelopment of commercial and residential buildings and award-winning rehabilitation of historic retail, office and industrial buildings.

Their efforts most recently resulted in the preservation and adaptive reuse of the iconic Hanger 61 structure at Stapleton. Constructed in 1959 by the Ideal Cement Company to house its Fairchild F-27 Turboprop Airliner, the Hangar was meant to be a showcase for what was possible with the company’s namesake product. Designed by the renowned Denver firm of Fischer, Fisher and Davis and engineered by Milo Ketchum, a pioneer in thin shell concrete construction, the Hangar is a wildly impressive building that is thought to be the only diamond-shaped cylindrical arch thin-shell structure ever constructed worldwide.

2009 Dana Crawford Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation:

Central City Opera House Association (CCOHA) is the nation’s fifth-oldest opera company, located just 35 miles west of Denver in one of Colorado’s official National Landmark Historic Districts. Integral to the organization’s mission since inception in 1932 is its purpose to preserve and protect the town of Central City and its Opera House. Today, CCOHA continues to preserve and maintain the Opera House and 30 other Victorian-era properties located in the Central City/Black Hawk National Landmark Historic District. The Opera House itself, the oldest operating theater in the Rocky Mountain Region, has received awards for the excellence of its restoration. The other properties are all in use as residences for artists and facilities to support productions. In addition to its historic preservation activities, Central City Opera presents an annual professional summer opera festival; offers career-entry training to young singers; and produces education and community service programs year-round.

Photo Credit: Opera House 1894,© Central City Opera House Association Archives

2008 Dana Crawford Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation:

Charlie H. Woolley, II founded the St. Charles Town Company in 1993, as an urban real estate development, investment and management company. SCTC has completed $175 million of development projects since 1993. SCTC manages 25 Downtown Denver properties, comprising of 1,500,000 square feet, and is a specialist in the management of mixed-use and condominium properties. Mr. Woolley directs the Company’s development and investment activities, and sets policy for the Company’s investment and business activities. Mr. Woolley’s philosophy of tackling community projects, that are both highly profitable and provide a social dividend, is at the core of the pursuit of SCTC’s new projects. Mr. Woolley is active in community affairs, serving as a trustee for historic preservation, arts, and community service non-profit organizations. Mr. Woolley received his undergraduate degree in City Planning, and an MBA from the University of Denver.

2007 Dana Crawford Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation:

Barbara H. Pahl has been working to ‘save the places where history happened’ since arriving in Colorado in 1979. Originally from Rochester, New York, Barb intended for her stay in Colorado to be temporary. Nearly 30 years later, she’s still here, and her work in preservation in Colorado and across the region has resulted in numerous preservation victories.

After working for the Colorado Historical Society, Barb joined the National Trust’s Mountains/Plains Office in 1984 and has been the Regional Director since 1991. She played a key role in the development of the National Trust BARN AGAIN! Program, the Heritage Tourism Program, the initiative to save historic neighborhood schools, and the Public Lands Initiative. She was also instrumental in the effort to develop Denver’s well-known Downtown Historic District and the passage of Colorado’s Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit. For her efforts to preserve historic places in Montana, Barb received the Montana Governor’s Historic Preservation Award in 2005

More Dana Crawford Award Recipients:

2001: Carol Gossard
2000: William Hornby
1999: Colorado Historical Society
1998: Tom Noel
1997: Tweet Kimball
1996: Betty Chronic
1995: Barbara Sudler Hornby
1994: Federico Pena
1993: Ann Daniels Love
1992: Historic Boulder & Historic Denver
1991: Stephen H. Hart
1990: Dana Crawford