|
SOHO Honored with 2024 CPF President's Award
July/August 2024
Save Our Heritage Organisation (SOHO) has been honored with the prestigious President's Award by the California Preservation Foundation (CPF). This award recognizes individuals and organizations deserving of special recognition for their outstanding preservation efforts. Since its inception in 1991, the President's Award program has honored 155 individuals and organizations whose work has deepened the appreciation of historic resources and their value to California's economy, environment, and quality of life.
 SOHO has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership in safeguarding San Diego's rich cultural heritage for over five decades through advocacy and education, restoration, and stewardship of historic sites. This latest accolade from CPF highlights SOHO's commitment to preservation, showcasing our remarkable track record in protecting significant buildings and structures throughout San Diego.
The CPF board of trustees commended SOHO for its outstanding efforts, naming just a few of the iconic landmarks such as the Hotel del Coronado, Balboa Park's Cabrillo Bridge, California Quadrangle, and Plaza de Panama that SOHO has protected. These projects underscore the statewide importance of SOHO's contributions, reflecting the organization's dedication to ensuring that future generations can appreciate and learn from San Diego’s historic treasures.
This recognition by CPF adds to SOHO's recent accolades, including the Governor's Historic Preservation Award received in January 2024, which recognized SOHO for its over 55 years of outstanding achievements in preserving and celebrating California's richly diverse heritage.
These awards honor SOHO's more than half a century of diverse, groundbreaking, and successful advocacy since its founding in an artist's living room on January 1, 1969, to save one Victorian house. From these modest beginnngs, SOHO is now a countywide organization and is renowned for saving and ensuring the restoration or revitalization of dozens of prominent historic buildings and places and protecting hundreds of homes that embody San Diego's authentic character and multicultural history. These iconic historic resources include the Santa Fe Depot, Ballpark District, Warehouse Thematic Historic District, Gaslamp Quarter, Balboa Park's historic core, Temple Beth Israel, Santa Ysabel Store, North Park, and South Park historic districts, among many others.
SOHO actively engages and educates the public in the work and mission of historic preservation. Our annual People In Preservation Awards, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2023, has honored exceptional preservation efforts by over 400 individuals, businesses, and groups throughout San Diego County. Its campaign to establish neighborhood preservation organizations has led to the formation of over a half dozen active advocacy groups.
SOHO's Sherlock Homes Historic Homeowners Consultation Program, Old House Resource Directory, and Adobe University all promote awareness and skills regarding the region's historic architecture and cultural heritage, inspiring the public to engage in preservation efforts. Current preservation news and advocacy updates reach nearly 4,000 subscribers via the bimonthly Our Heritage eNews, a part of SOHO's publishing arm that has released more than two dozen architecture and history guides, and several books.
President David Goldberg and Vice President David Swarens accepted the award on behalf of all of us at the iconic Biltmore in Los Angeles, newly recognized as a Historic Hotel of America during the CPF Annual Preservation conference. "This honor means the world to us," said David Goldberg. "For over 50 years, SOHO has been committed to preserving San Diego's historic sites, making our community a richer place to live."
Bruce Coons, SOHO's executive director, notes once again that it takes a village, "This award is for everyone in our organization. It reflects the hard work, passion, and dedication of our board, staff, members, and all our supporters who help us protect our region's historic treasures for today and the future."
SOHO extends its heartfelt gratitude to the California Preservation Foundation for this honor and looks forward to continuing its mission of preserving and celebrating San Diego's cultural heritage.
|
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
|
