Nominations are now open for the 10th Red Deer Heritage Recognition Awards.
The City of Red Deer and Red Deer County’s Red Deer Heritage Recognition Awards acknowledge the special accomplishments, projects and efforts which have furthered the goal of heritage conservations in the City and County.
“The value of celebrating our past is determined in many ways, through conservation of historically significant sites, the telling of the stories of those people who shaped our community, or the academic study and advocacy of heritage issues,” said Susan Knopp, chair of the Heritage Preservation Committee. “It’s especially exciting to celebrate our collective past as Red Deer marks its 100th anniversary as a city this year.”
The City and Red Deer County have worked hard to protect their heritage and it is proven by the quality and variety of nominations since the awards were launched in 2002, officials say. The Heritage Preservation Committee is proud to highlight these projects and the citizens who work to preserve and promote heritage.
The Heritage Preservation Committee is an advisory committee to City Council made up of six members of the public who are appointed for a two-year term, and a member from the Red Deer Museum and Art Gallery, the Waskasoo Environmental Education Association, usually the executive director of the Kerry Wood Centre and also a member from the Central Alberta Historical Society.
They meet once a month to discuss all types of heritage issues.
There are five nomination categories, including a new category that recognizes non-professional youth under the age of 25 who have made special contributions to heritage.
Heritage Community Development Coordinator Janet Pennington said, “We are really excited about that because we have never had that before. We are really going to go out this year and target youth groups: the scouts, the girl guides and sports groups so we can also help them not just celebrate the heritage of this City, but celebrate their own culture and heritage too. And I think that that’s very important.”
In addition to the new youth category the other categories include: individuals or groups that have demonstrated outstanding efforts or achievements in the restoration, rehabilitation, continued maintenance or development of a new use of the interior or exterior of a heritage building, structure, landscape or natural feature.
– Individuals or groups that have demonstrated outstanding efforts or achievements in the development of a new building or landscape feature to sensitively fit into its heritage.
– Individuals or groups that have demonstrated outstanding efforts to preserve, enhance or revitalize communities, neighbourhood, natural and built landscape features or other historically significant sites.
– Individuals or groups that have demonstrated leadership in community preservation efforts, significant heritage interpretation, publication, research, advocacy or education.
The deadline for nominations is April 30 at 3 p.m.
Nomination forms are available at the City of Red Deer Culture Services office, Red Deer County office and online at www.reddeer.ca/culture and http://rdcounty.ca.
The Heritage Recognition Awards presentation will take place on Sept. 27 as a part of Alberta Culture Days celebrations. Each award recipient (company, project, organization or individual) will receive a plaque.
To learn more about the Heritage Preservation Committee or to see a list of previous winners, visit www.reddeer.ca/culture.
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