Preservation Erie, a local volunteer-run advocacy group that works to promote, preserve, and enhance the distinctive character of greater Erie through community-based planning, design, and historic preservation, is soliciting nominations from the public for two of their upcoming projects: The 2025 Greater Erie Awards and the 2025 update to the Endangered Places List. Please contact either Melinda or Terry for further comment or to schedule interviews.
Nominations for the 2025 Greater Erie Awards
Preservation Erie is now accepting nominations for the 2025 Greater Erie Awards.The Greater Erie Awards are presented annually by the board of Preservation Erie to individuals, businesses, or organizations that are exceptional stewards of the physical and cultural landscape that is Greater Erie. The awards are organized to attract and educate residents and community leaders, and celebrate Greater Erie’s successes in planning, design, adaptive reuse, and preservation. Structures nominated must be located within Erie County, Pennsylvania.
The categories for nomination include:
1) PRESERVATION EXCELLENCE – buildings, structures or spaces (that are at least 50 years old) that have been conserved, stabilized and preserved in a manner honoring the individual property.
2) ADAPTIVE REUSE – buildings, structures or spaces (that are at least 50 years old) that have been renovated to allow a thoughtful or community-enhancing reuse that respects the historic character of the site.
3) DESIGN EXCELLENCE– buildings, structures or spaces (that are less than 50 years old) that have been constructed in a manner that both honors the character of the existing built environment and uses green energy best practices including creating the least amount of environmental impact and/or LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental) certification.
4) EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY – This award acknowledges the work of local creators, photographers, authors, community advocates, non-building related projects, and others who are helping to raise awareness of historic preservation. Nominees must live in Erie County.
To nominate a building or person for a 2025 Greater Erie Award, please fill out the form available at www.preservationerie.org
The deadline to nominate a person, organization or building is Monday, July 28, 2025.
Nominations for the 2025 update to the Endangered Places List
In 2017, Preservation Erie took up the task of keeping a comprehensive list of the most endangered historic resources in Erie (both City and County). That list was updated in 2021 and is in the process of being updated again this year, in 2025. The purpose of this list is twofold: (1) to raise awareness of threatened historic resources that have historical and/or architectural significance to the Erie community and (2) to identify those properties or projects in which Preservation Erie can engage or assist.
With this list, we hope to draw attention to some important historic places in Erie County that we are dangerously close to losing. We, as an organization and a community, can then promote these properties’ protection and encourage the use of local, state, and federal resources to help save them.
Call for nominations: If you know a property that is facing the threat of demolition, physical deterioration, inappropriate alteration, or a compromised setting due to development pressure, vacancy or abandonment, a depressed local economy or limited interest/financial capacity of property owners, please consider nominating it to Erie County’s Endangered Places List. Nominations can be submitted using the form at www.preservationerie.org
Nominations will be accepted on a rolling basis and the deadline to nominate a property for the 2025 list is Monday, July 28, 2025.
Eligibility requirements: The nominated property must be listed on the National Register of Historic Places or reside within a National Register Historic District, OR have historical and/or architectural significance to the community, AND be facing an identifiable threat (encroaching development, neglect, vacancy, inappropriate alteration, etc.), AND would potentially benefit from inclusion on this list.