Community Invited to Celebrate Denver’s Built Environment

Each year during National Preservation Month, Historic Denver opens the doors for the public to nominate the people and projects shaping our city’s future by honoring its past. Nominations for Historic Denver’s 2025 Annual Awards open on May 1 and will be accepted through May 31.

For almost 55 years, Historic Denver’s Annual Awards Program has recognized outstanding contributions to city-building through the preservation of Denver’s built heritage and cultural identity. This longstanding tradition uplifts the individuals, projects, and collective community efforts that protect and reimagine the places that give Denver its unique sense of character and continuity.

John Deffenbaugh, president & CEO of Historic Denver, said: “Preservation is about more than saving old buildings; it’s about leveraging the past to create the future. Historic Denver’s Annual Awards Program honors the people and projects who shape the future of our city by protecting and reimagining our shared past in ways that inspire, uplift, and bring joy across our modern city.”

Award Categories Include:

• Community Preservation Awards – For projects, institutions, or community efforts that exemplify high-quality restoration, thoughtful rehabilitation, and a deep commitment to Denver’s historic fabric.
• Remix Award – For creative projects that blend old and new, adding innovative layers to historic structures that enrich their stories and invite new appreciation.
• Infill Award – For new construction in historic districts that is sensitive to scale and context, while demonstrating design ingenuity and respect for place.

Individual Awards:

• Margaret Brown Award – For those who embody Molly Brown’s civic spirit through decades of impact in preservation, politics, and philanthropy.
• Ann Love Award – For individuals outside the traditional preservation field who show extraordinary initiative in honoring Denver’s history.
• Keystone Award – For a lifetime or career-long dedication to preserving Denver’s places and stories.

Nomination Details:

Anyone in the community is invited to submit a nomination. Each submission should include basic information about the person or project, relevant images, and a brief explanation of why the nominee deserves recognition. Projects should have been completed within the last three years. All nominations will be reviewed by a jury comprised of Historic Denver trustees, past award recipients, and preservation advocates. Finalists will be notified in June and formally recognized at Historic Denver’s 55th Gala at the Brown Palace Hotel on October 16. The Gala is one of only three annual events for which the Brown Palace closes its historic nine-story atrium.

Recent honorees include a mid-century modern garage transformed into a social enterprise coffee shop, a Victorian mansion turned into a boutique B&B, a historic church restored and reimagined for community use, and nationally recognized preservationists, including Sarah O. McCarthy and Ed Dwight, a trained astronaut and sculptor​.