Wilmington Quoin Hotel wins preservation award

The Quoin is a new hotel and restaurant located in a renovated bank structure designed by one of Philadelphia’s most renowned architects, Frank Furness. | COURTESY OF BUCCINI/POLLIN GROUP

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia has recently disclosed the recipients of the 2023 Preservation Achievement Awards.

The Quoin Hotel in Wilmington, owned by Buccini/Pollin Group, has been named a Preservation Achievement Grand Jury Award honoree.

These awards acknowledge the contributions of individuals, organizations, structures, and spaces that enhance the distinctive character of the Philadelphia region.

“Restored historic places add color and depth to our quality of life,” Paul Steinke, Alliance executive director, said. “and contribute mightily to the region’s economic vitality and allure. These winners are improving our property values as well as our everyday existence.”

Preservation Alliance Achievement Awards will be presented in two categories: Grand Jury Awards for historic building projects that have been restored or renovated in an exemplary way; and Special Recognition Awards for people and organizations that champion preservation.

Grand Jury Awards
This year, twenty exemplary projects will be recognized, including the restorations of some of the region’s most beloved historic structures: The Quoin, The Academy of Music balconies, The Athenaeum, Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church, Penn’s Burk-Bergman Boathouse, Curtis Institute of Music, Eastern State Penitentiary, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Kelly Writers House at Penn, and Longwood Gardens’ Orchid House.

The Grand Jury Award recipients were chosen by a panel of preservation architects and historians from Maryland.

At the Alliance Awards ceremony, the Historic Preservation Committee of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects will honor a person and a structure. Aaron Wunsch, PhD, an architectural historian and professor at Penn, will receive the Henry Magaziner Award in recognition of his significant contributions to the preservation of the historic built environment. The Landmark Building Award will be given to the imperiled Germantown Town Hall for its intrinsic value as a landmark building.

The most prestigious Special Recognition honor is the James Biddle Award for lifetime achievement, which has been presented each year since 1994.

Special Recognition Awards
Ted Nickles and Jack Abgott of Nickles Contracting, a 53-year-old firm that has left an indelible impact on historic preservation in the Philadelphia region, will receive the James Biddle Award this year.

During their lengthy business partnership, Ted and Jack have restored and maintained nearly 400 historically-certified buildings, including structures designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, Paul Cret, Louis Kahn, Benjamin Latrobe, and others.

In addition to the Biddle, the Central Roxborough Civic Association, the Powelton Village Civic Association, and the South of South Neighborhood Association will receive Special Recognition Awards. These three citizen organizations researched, documented, and successfully advocated for neighborhood historic district designations to safeguard 19th- and early-20th-century properties from demolition. In particular, the South of South group was instrumental in establishing the Christian Street Black Doctors Row Historic District, the city’s first district devoted primarily to black history.

Special recognition will be given to the Association for Public Art for exceptional stewardship of a National Historic Landmark; the Witherspoon Building for preservation that contributes to economic development; Delaware County resident David Kelso and former Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission grant program manager Scott Doyle for preservation in the public interest; and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities at Rutgers-Camden for public advancement of preservation.

The Young Friends of the Preservation Alliance Award will be presented to Christopher Rogers, PhD for his efforts to conserve the Diamond Street residence (a National Historic Landmark) of Henry Ossawa Tanner, who was deemed “the most distinguished African-American artist of the 19th century” by the Smithsonian Institution.

Here is the comprehensive schedule. The recipients of the Special Recognition Award are chosen by a panel of esteemed Philadelphia-area preservationists.

Awards Event
The Annual Preservation Achievement Awards will be held at VIE, 600 N. Broad Street, on Wednesday, June 6 at 4:30 p.m. Each admission is inclusive of refreshments, a dinner buffet, and dessert. For more information visit, www.preservationalliance.com.