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Georgia Trust
for Historic Preservation Recognizes First
Assistant
Keeper’s Cottage with Preservation Award
Restored Building Part of Tybee Island
Lighthouse Complex
ATLANTA, April
22, 2006 – The First Assistant Keeper’s Cottage,
part of the Tybee Island Lighthouse Complex,
received an Excellence in Restoration award from
The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation at its
Annual Meeting April 22 in Athens, Ga.
The cottage had
suffered damage from multiple natural disasters.
During an earthquake in 1886, a chimney shifted
two inches, and in 1947, both chimneys’ top
portions were demolished in a hurricane. The
two-story wood frame building had also been
extensively modified by the United States Coast
Guard.
“This rehabilitation
contributes to the overall effort to restore one
of Georgia’s most complete and historic light
stations,” said Greg Paxton, president and CEO of
The Georgia Trust. “With the thousands of visitors
that Tybee Island welcomes each year, the First
Assistant Keeper’s Cottage provides an excellent
opportunity to educate and promote historic
preservation.”
Architects Dan Snyder
and Associates and the Tybee Island Historical
Society developed design drawings and
specifications to preserve and reuse more than 90
percent of the building’s remaining interior
historic fabric. All of the cottage’s modern
additions were removed, and missing and damaged
elements were replaced with materials appropriate
and compatible with the historic character of the
building.
The team
rehabilitated the 1885 structure for temporary use
as an office space, with plans to transform the
building into a public historic house museum at a
later date.
The museum will
interpret the building as the First Assistant
Keeper’s residence between 1916 and 1939, offering
a glimpse into the life and living conditions of
lighthouse keepers and their families. The Tybee
Island Lighthouse is visited by more than 130,000
people each year.
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 to the Secretary of the
Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
Awards in the
Excellence in Restoration category recognize
exemplary restoration of historic structures. An
accurate restoration project depicts the form,
features and character of a historic building as
it appeared at a particular period of time.
Restoration requires sensitive upgrading of
mechanical systems and other code-required work to
make the building functional. This year the Trust
presented five Excellence in Restoration 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 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.
Late last year,
the Trust announced its first annual listing of
Georgia’s 10 Places in Peril. 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 First Assistant Keeper’s Cottage, contact
the Tybee Island Historical Society at
912-786-5801.
To learn more about
The Georgia Trust and the Preservation Awards,
visit
www.georgiatrust.org.
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