Featured image: Winners of this year’s Batesville Preservation Association Merit and Honor Awards for historic preservation and restoration include (from left to right) Nick Sloan, Houston Liles and her daughter, David Hutchison, Danny Dozier, Dale Cole, Gayle Cole, Joey Markowski, and Jeanne Markowski. Image provided by the Batesville Preservation Association.
The Batesville Preservation Association (BPA) recognized nine individuals and organizations in its annual Awards Reception held Sunday April 21.
BPA recognizes efforts in both the ongoing preservation of historic properties kept in good shape and the restoration of properties that have fallen into disrepair.
For the first time, BPA recognized properties between St. Louis St. and Lyon College for its preservation awards, with structures in that neighborhood now meeting the “historic” designation, being between 50 and 75 years old.
Four properties in the neighborhood received Merit Awards for preservation. They included the following:
- The Christian Science Church at 18th and College.
- The Highland House on Bearette St, owned by Lyon College and used as a guest house and event center.
- The Bond-Hance-Ketz Home at the corner of Maple and McCaleb, the home of Butch and Virginia Ketz.
- The Dorch-Cole Home on Park Street, the home of Dale and Gayle Cole.
Five additional awards went to properties in Batesville’s commercial district. They include the following Merit Awards:
- The Nuway-Bumpers Building at 4th and Main. The building was recently refaced with stone and is currently the home of the law offices of Fuller Bumpers.
- The Minikin Building at 120 W. Main. Owners Houston and B. J. Liles have completely restored the interior of the building to function as a bridal and formal wear shop, Viv and Rose.
- Maxfield Park. BPA recognized Danny Dozier for converting the site of a collapsed building into an attractive downtown park.
Two downtown properties received Honor Awards for extensive restoration.
Nick Sloan was recognized for restoration of the Central Avenue buildings now serving as the Poke Bayou Lofts while Joey Markowski was recognized for restoration of the Adler Building on West Main, which now offers two commercial spaces at street level and eight apartments at the back and on the second floor.
In a release from BPA, Awards Committee Chair Terrell Tebbetts praised all the Merit Award winners, noting that owners who keep their property up-to-date “benefit not only themselves but also their entire neighborhood.”
He particularly praised the major restoration work of Dozier, Sloan and Markowski, saying, “These visionary developers have turned sites that were little more than ruins into assets for themselves and for all of Batesville.”
BPA President Lindsey Hodges concluded the awards presentations remarking on the organization’s ongoing grants program, which has helped several of the award winners as they undertook their projects.
The Batesville Preservation Association is a 501C3 non-profit with membership open to all who are interested in preserving the historic properties of the oldest city in Arkansas.
Information can be found on its Facebook page by clicking here.
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