2020 Minneapolis Preservation Awards Celebration

SGA Group, Inc. co-founder, Graham Sones, at far right above (standing), participated in an awards celebration on February 27, 2020. The Minneapolis Parks Legacy Society (MPLS) and Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) received a preservation award for the on-site interpretive tours of the historic Theodore Wirth House and Administration Building (1910 Colonial Revival, Mission Revival, West Coast Mission style, by the architect Lowell A. Lamoreaux). 

MPLS member Graham Sones was in attendance to receive the award, along with MPLS Executive Director Joan Berthiaume. Sones’ involvement assisting Berthiaume’s program at the Wirth House extends many years prior and will continue as long as she, and the Park Board, can support it.

For years, the tours have enhanced the publics’ appreciation of the famed “City of Lakes” system of parks and trails by guiding visitors through Wirth’s former home telling stories of its origins, its first superintendent, and path to national recognition and success. 

The evening of celebration, which included complimentary hors d’oeuvres, beverages, and live music, was sponsored by AIA Minnesota, Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission and Preserve Minneapolis. It was held at the historic Pillsbury A-Mill, in Minneapolis.  The MPLS/MPRB recognition was given under the category of Accomplishment in Education and was joined by several other award recognitions that honored preservation, new construction in historic districts, advocacy, and individual career achievement.

For more information about all the award recipients, find it online at preserveminneapolis.org.