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The
Lady & Sons Restaurant Receives
Statewide Preservation Award
Historic
Gibbons Range Transformed into Popular
Eatery
ATLANTA,
April
2, 2005—The Lady & Son’s
Restaurant’s new City Market location in
Savannah, Ga., received an award for
Excellence in Rehabilitation from The Georgia
Trust for Historic Preservation at its annual
meeting April 2 in Thomasville, Ga.
When
restaurant owner and television chef Paula
Dean was looking to expand her popular
Savannah eatery in 2001, she looked right up
the street to the Gibbons Range, built in the
1820s by former mayor Thomas Gibbons.
The
block-long brick building is located on
Congress Street in Historic City Market. This
new space would enable Dean to double her
seating capacity, provide a take-out service
area, expand her catering business and build a
larger kitchen and office area. While doing
all of this, Dean was determined to preserve
the history of the building.
Poticny
Deering Felder, Architects added new
stairwells and an elevator shaft to comply
with safety codes. Restrooms were also
upgraded, relocated and made handicap
accessible.
New
historically sensitive windows replaced the
old, historically inaccurate windows, and a
new heating and cooling system was added. To
provide more natural light to the space, the
skylights were given a new glazing. More than
$2.1 million was spent solely on the
restoration of the structure.
“These
renovations have turned The Lady & Sons
restaurant into a more comfortable dining
experience that still maintains the historic
charm of Savannah,” said Greg Paxton,
president and CEO of The Georgia Trust.
For
more than 25 years the Trust has recognized
preservation projects and individuals in the
state who have made significant contributions
to the field of historic preservation. Awards
are presented on the basis of the
contributions of the person or project to the
community and/or state and on compliance with
the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards
for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
Excellence
in Rehabilitation awards recognize projects
that make compatible use of a building through
repair, alterations or additions while
preserving features of the property that
convey its historic value. This year, the
Trust presented 15 Excellence in
Rehabilitation awards.
With
more than 8,000 members, The Georgia Trust for
Historic Preservation is the country’s
largest statewide, nonprofit preservation
organization. Founded in 1973, the Trust is
committed to preserving and enhancing
Georgia’s communities and their diverse
historic resources for the education and
enjoyment of all.
The
Trust generates community revitalization by finding buyers for
endangered properties acquired by its
Revolving Fund; provides design assistance to
105 Georgia Main Street cities and encourages
neighborhood revitalization; trains
Georgia’s teachers in 56 Georgia school
systems to engage students in discovering
state and national history through their local
historic resources; and advocates for funding,
tax incentives and other laws aiding
preservation efforts.
The
Georgia Trust is a recipient of the Trustees
Award for Organizational Excellence from the
National Trust for Historic Preservation.
For
more information on The Lady & Sons
Restaurant, contact Earl Hiers at
912-233-2600.
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