The Oil Region Alliance (ORA) will celebrate the winners of the Historic Preservation Awards on May 18. The in-person event, which is free and open to the public, will be held at Christ Episcopal Church in Oil City, beginning at 6 p.m. and will include hors d’ oeuvres, a tour of the church, and presentation of certificates to the winners.

“I’m pleased with the variety of nominations this year, including the reconstruction of a 1940s airplane and the restoration and relocation of a historic bridge,” said event organizer Jennifer Burden, ORA Heritage Program Manager.

Nominations were accepted in March and voted on by a panel of judges representing the following sponsor organizations: Crawford County Historical Society, Franklin Preservation Association, Friends of Drake Well, Heritage Society of Oil City, Oil City Main Street Program, Titusville Historical Society, Titusville Renaissance, Venango County Historical Society, and the Venango Museum of Art, Science & Industry.

The 2023 Oil Region Historic Preservation Award Winners include:
• Vintage Wings, Inc. for the Reconstruction of the Beach City Baby
• Carole Hall for Preservation Education/Initiative
• Deep Harbour Properties for the Enhancement of the Lamberton Building in Franklin
• PennDOT and PA DCNR for the Messerall Bridge in the Structure Category
• Gregory Rock & Aimé Sposato Rock for the Reconstruction of the Rocsato Conservatory of Music at Hillhurst in Titusville
• Chris and Jenn Morrison for their Enhancement of the Former Salvation Army Building in Franklin • Reconstruction of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Oil City
• Robert Billingsley and Carolee Michener for Historic Appreciation of the World War I Memorial in Franklin

This article was published in the Venango Chamber’s May 2023 VenangoWorks! Newsletter.