Walla Walla 2020 and Beyond: The development of Walla Walla’s community, architecture awards

One of the features of our town that makes it such an appealing place to live is our rich array of historical architecture.

From its inception in 1988, Walla Walla 2020 recognized the role of these historic homes and buildings in our quality of life, and we were concerned that with each passing decade, more and more were disappearing, either through demolition or modernization.

To bring awareness to the value of preservation of the early homes and buildings in the community, we began making awards for the restoration or rehabilitation of historic architecture.

We also gave awards for compatible new construction, meaning those efforts that sought to complement historical style rather than introduce a more modern design.

In keeping with Walla Walla 2020’s vision of sustainability, we also included an award category for outstanding examples of energy and water efficiency.

The Downtown Walla Walla Foundation and Pacific Power also served as co-sponsors of our Historic Architecture Awards.

In 1990 we introduced a new category of awards: landscape architecture. A Painted Lady Award, for decorative exterior paint, was added in 1993, joined by awards for public art in 1994.

Nearly every year from 1988-2003, we awarded certificates of merit, plus major awards and a grand prize for projects in residential, downtown and general categories completed in the preceding year.

The award ceremonies, held in one of the prizewinning buildings, have been exciting, inspiring and well-attended, bringing recognition to the property owners as well as the contractors and architects.

By showcasing their efforts, we wanted to encourage others to consider reuse or renovation of their properties rather than new construction.

These events have been celebrations of the progress in restoring and revitalizing the downtown and the general community, as well as an opportunity to share WW2020’s general vision and its other projects.

A complete list of the dozens of projects that have been honored, together with their owners, contractors and architects, appears on our website at ww2020.net. Here is a list of the annual grand prize winners:

• 1988 — The Depot, rehabilitation and renovation of Northern Pacific Railway station.
• 1989 — Pioneer Title Company, for restoration and renovation of 1876 building.
• 1990 — Green Gables Inn, for restoration and renovation of 1905 residence as bed & breakfast
• 1991 — The Liberty Theater, for restoration and renovation of historic theater.
• 1992 — Downtown Project and Heritage Park, addition of trees and other improvements, creation of downtown park with mural art and public facilities.
• 1993 — Reynolds-Day building, 6 E. Main St., restoration and renovation of 1874 building.
• 1994 — Die Brücke building, restoration and renovation of 1890 Book Nook building
• 1995 — Siegel-Adams building, restoration and renovation of 1889 bank building.
• 1996-97 — Green Park Elementary School, renovation and restoration of 1905 school building with compatible addition.
• 1998 — Washington School, renovation and restoration of 1901 school for housing.
• 1999 — Hunter Conservatory, Whitman College, renovation and restoration of 1910 music building.
• 2000 — Whitehouse-Crawford building, restoration and renovation of 1904 planing mill.
• 2001 — Sharpstein Elementary School, restoration, renovation and compatible new addition to the 1898-1905 school.
• 2002-03 — Marcus Whitman Hotel & Conference Center, restoration and renovation of 1928 hotel and addition of compatible conference center.

In 2015, after a lull of more than a decade, Walla Walla 2020 held an expanded awards program, broadening those honored to include individuals and organizations making outstanding contributions to Walla Walla’s quality of life and sustainability in the last dozen years.

The awards ceremony was appropriately held in the Gesa Power House Theatre, our Grand Prize Winner of the Decade, its owners lauded for their “outstanding contribution to the Walla Walla community through the adaptive reuse of a historic building as a vibrant center for civic and arts events.”

Before and after photos of each of the building projects were shown as the work involved was described and honorees were given the opportunity to tell of the challenges and rewards of their project.

The slide show gave the audience an inside look at just what it took to get to the final products as we know them from the outside, and inspired gratitude for the people who had the fortitude and foresight to save or renovate these buildings that are now jewels of our community.

One award, aptly called Saved by the Wrecking Ball, was a complete renovation project on a historic home that was days away from demolition before a couple took on the daunting task of resurrecting it to its glory days.

New awards given for community service as part of that event went to:

• Sherwood Trust and its retiring CEO, Jock Edwards, for “significantly increasing the social capital and quality of life of the Walla Walla area for more than two decades.”
• The community rooftop solar project WW-FREE and its CEO Fred Liebrand “in honor of outstanding contributions to Walla Walla’s sustainability in pioneering an innovative community solar farm on public buildings.”
• Joe Drazan and his Bygone Walla Walla project, for “outstanding service to the community in preserving and publicizing our heritage through the collection and publishing of historic photographs of the Walla Walla area.”
• Walla Walla 2020 plans to continue to honor efforts in the categories already described, but going forward there are other important types of architecture that pertain to quality of life and sustainability that we will consider.

A few possibilities are Best Compact Urban Home Design, Best Tiny Home, Best Design for Communal Living, Best Repurposing of Materials and Best Design for Incorporating Food Production into Urban Property Footprint.

Linda Herbert is the secretary of Walla Walla 2020 and has served on its Architecture and Community Awards Committee. A retired nurse, she is president of Blue Mountain Land Trust and author of “The 1919 Walla Walla Tractor Show,” published by Blue Mountain Land Trust.