OROVILLE — The city is asking citizens who live, work or recreate in a historic building to nominate these building for the Oroville Historic Preservation Award.
“Our Historic Preservation Award resulted from a discussion within the Historic Advisory Committee on how we can encourage rehabilitation and reuse of our precious limited historic structures,” said Natalie Sheard, planning commissioner. “The heart of this award is to honor the best in historic preservation and reuse of Oroville’s unique buildings and sites and to encourage more of the same.”
Nominations, open to any building or site within the city limits, are due no later than Jan. 30 and may be emailed to Wes Ervin, Oroville principal planner, at [email protected].
The criteria for the award include: outstanding period appropriate architectural and landscape restoration or preservation; evidence of an understanding of and dedication to the history of the structure or site within the context of Oroville’s history; a commitment to excellence in ongoing stewardship of the property; sustainable reuse that brings economic vitality to the city of Oroville and/or stimulates the local economy; compliance with the general plan, city codes, zoning and ordinances; and importance within the context of Oroville’s history.
“Everyone is encouraged to nominate a building or site,” said Sheard. “All they have to do is send in the address or location, the name if there is one, a bit about it and photos. It’s not complicated.”
The creation of the award was the result of a collaboration among the History Advisory Committee, part of the Planning Commission under the chairmanship of Carl Durling, Oroville historian Danny Ballard, city staff and members of the downtown business association. The Planning Commission passed a resolution for the award on Oct. 6, 2023. That resolution was then approved unanimously by the Oroville City Council on Nov. 2, 2023 slating the award to be implemented in 2024 and to be an annual award thereafter.
“I think it’s great to have this award honoring our historic buildings,” said Mayor Dave Pittman, who will present the award at the State of the City address in the spring. “We have lots of history relevant to our city as well as the state and these buildings and sites are part of that. It’s nice to recognize them and let the public know about them.”
When the History Advisory Committee first began looking for a way to honor the historic buildings, the people who renovate and maintain them and those who first built them, they looked to other cities for ideas. What they found, according to Sheard, was a myriad of things other jurisdictions do including creating coffee-table books, placing stories in magazines, holding special events and, sometimes, assisting property owners with improvements like tree plantings, parkway strips, gutter and sidewalk improvements among other things. The most prevalent and popular honor, however, was awarding a plaque “from the city recognizing the value of the restoration and continuing preservation of the structure,” said Sheard.
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“That’s really our vision and we want to keep it simple but impactful,” she said. “The best way to keep our history alive and meaningful is through the active reuse of historic buildings and sites. That is the heart of what we want to encourage.”
In addition to the formal presentation of the award at the State of the City event, the building or site will also be honored with a page on the city’s website and a public event at the site to share the history with the public.
“These buildings and sites tell the unique story of the founding of Oroville and we are in a fight to keep these structures standing physically and, most importantly, to keep the incredible stories of the people who built them alive,” said Sheard. “This award gives us the opportunity to honor the residents of the past and the residents of today who are working hard to preserve and improve this historic gold rush town.”
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