SAN DIEGO — The San Diego preservation group Save Our Heritage Organisation, has received a prestigious 2023 Governor’s Historic Preservation Award.
The awards, announced on Dec. 29, recognize SOHO and five other organizations and projects for outstanding achievements in preserving and celebrating California’s diverse heritage.
The Governor’s Historic Preservation Awards are the state of California’s only awards program to recognize both major and community-centered, historic and cultural preservation efforts.
The Governor’s award to SOHO honors more than half a century of advocacy since the group’s founding in an artist’s living room on Jan. 1, 1969 to save one Victorian house.
The countywide group is now renowned for saving and ensuring the restoration or revitalization of dozens of historic buildings and places, and the protection of hundreds of homes that embody San Diego’s authentic character and multicultural history.
These historic resources include the Santa Fe Depot, Hotel del Coronado, Ballpark District, Warehouse Thematic Historic District, Gaslamp Quarter, Balboa Park’s historic core, Temple Beth Israel, Santa Ysabel Store, the North Park and South Park historic districts, and many more.
“We are deeply honored to receive this prestigious recognition,” said SOHO president David Goldberg. “For 55 years, SOHO has been dedicated to serving the community, enriching the lives of all San Diegans through the preservation of our invaluable and irreplaceable historic places, and making San Diego a better place to live and work.”
In addition, SOHO’s campaign to establish neighborhood preservation organizations has led to the formation of five active groups.
Bruce Coons, SOHO’s executive director, added, “This award holds great significance for us. It symbolizes the collective efforts of our board of directors and staff, and the countless devoted individuals who have generously contributed their knowledge, energy and personal resources to safeguard our region’s historic treasures for both current and future generations.”
SOHO has received four previous Governor’s Awards for specific achievements, including in 2007, a special commendation for the around-the-clock response monitoring during the massive Witch Creek Fire that resulted in saving multiple historic sites.
In addition to SOHO, honorees include organizations in Palm Springs, San Francisco and Richmond, and an effort in the Laguna Mountains, the Ah-Ha Mut-ta-ti’ e Traditional Cultural Landscape Evaluation Report.
The awards will be presented on a date TBD in Sacramento under the sponsorship of the California Office of Historic Preservation and California State Parks.
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Preceding provided by Times of San Diego