On May 16, the Historic Wilmington Foundation honored the winners of our 2024 Preservation Awards at the historic New Hanover County courthouse.

To the right, you may peruse a gallery of photos from the event, taken by Leigh-Anne Stump (creativefocusbyla.pixieset.com).

To view captions, click on the image, and the gallery will expand into a slideshow, including the caption text at the bottom.

Olivero (522 S. 3rd Street)

James Goodnight | Sunny Gerhart | Laurie Jackson, Maurer Architecture | Jaime Meares, Kilt Creative | Christopher Yermal & Tim Hamilton, Old School Rebuilder & Co.

This historic building was constructed in the 1940’s as Mill’s Grocery Store, and later served the community as a laundromat before falling into disrepair. In 2018, James Goodnight purchased the vacant building and assembled a project team including architect Laurie Jackson with Maurer Architecture, interior designer Jaime Meares with Kilt Creative, and general contractors Christopher Yermal and Tim Hamilton with Old School Rebuilder & Co. to transform the building into the vibrant Olivero restaurant, a concept by James Beard-nominated chef Sunny Gerhart.

Lucas Farms (27770 NC Highway 210)

Rebecca and David Lucas Jones | Lawrence Spriggs | Tim’s Heating and Air | Security Plus Electrical | Atlantic Roofing | Milam Plumbing | David Jones, Michael Jones, and Hadyn Brooks | Jack Innis | Gregg Murray | Parks Floor Sanding | Robert Palmer | First Class Tile

Built c. 1840, this Pender County tobacco farm has been in the Lucas Family since 1875.

Warren House (520 Nun Street)

Trey Lewis, Lewis Coastal Homes | Shane Horan, SNS Custom Homes

The Warren House was constructed in 1906 in the National Folk style for housewife Mamie Donnelly and tugboat engineer Elisha Warren. In 2023, Lewis Coastal Homes and SNS Custom Homes partnered to purchase and rehabilitate the vacant house. The rehabilitation respected the original spatial relationships of the house’s interior by preserving the floor plan and rehabilitating the eight-foot high pocket doors into operable condition to separate rooms. Distinctive finishes such as trim and door hardware were salvaged and re-installed. Even the tubs were salvaged and returned to their original uses.

Blaney-Crowley House (508 S. 3rd Street)

William & Haywood Mason | Phillip Tuggle

The Greek Revival style Blaney-Crowley House was constructed in 1847 for Elizabeth Steem and painter John Blaney. Homeowners William and Haywood Mason collaborated with blacksmith Phillip Tuggle from Sumter, South Carolina, to rehabilitate the house’s knee wall in the front yard by crafting a historically-appropriate ornamental fence and gate which had been missing from the property.

Padrick House (710 Walnut Street)

Janet Winn & William Winn, Jr. | Brooks Addis, Addis Home Builders

The Padrick House is a rare, surviving example of a shotgun house listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Tap Tea Bar (251 N. Front Street)

David Nathans | Urban Building Corp. | Zeke Nathans | Lucas Nathans

Constructed c. 1920, this building is one of the few Tudor Revival commercial buildings in the Wilmington Historic District.

21 Market Street

Thomas Falcone | M. W. Williard, Architect | E. B. Pannkuk III, Pannkuk Construction | E. B. Pannkuk IV, Stature Engineering

After purchasing the c. 1910 Atlantic Paint and Varnish Building in 2021, Thomas Falcone researched the building’s history to determine the facade’s original appearance. After identifying a 1912 photograph of the building in the New Hanover County Public Library’s North Carolina Room, the project team embarked on a full rehabilitation of the commercial structure and restoration of the building’s fifteen-over-one windows, which had been replaced with aluminum windows in the 1960s or 1970s.

Children’s Museum (116 Orange Street)

Jessie Goodwin, Children’s Museum of Wilmington | Josh Magyary, Coastal Life Painting

Since 2004, the Children’s Museum of Wilmington has been the steward of the 1945 St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which is one of three buildings that form the museum’s campus of adaptive reuse of historic structures.

Recently, the museum repaired the church’s wooden window framing in preparation for repainting the church. When choosing a new paint color, museum executive director Jessie Goodwin and Josh Magyary of Coastal Life Painting sought to mimic the original tone and appearance of the church’s masonry walls, which were once unpainted. Each window’s corner vouissor and keystone were accented in white.

Today, the former St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church reflects a closer image of its former self and it continues to serve the community as the Children’s Museum of Wilmington.

Burgaw Presbyterian Church (200 E. Fremont Street)

Burgaw Presbyterian Church Congregation & Property Committee | Joey White, Bryant Masonry | Frank Castillo, CGC Historic Restorations

Constructed in 1879, the Gothic Revival Burgaw Presbyterian Church is a fixture of Burgaw’s courthouse square. Spearheaded by the Property Committee, Joey White of Bryant Masonry, and Frank Castillo of CGC Historic Restorations performed a restoration that included repointing masonry, addressing extensive wood rot, repairing the original slate roof, and the replacement of failing floor joists and mud sills. Restoration of the church’s asymmetrical towers included the cleaning and repair of the functioning bell. All of the stained glass windows were restored and reglazed. Today, the restored sanctuary contributes to the continued preservation of the Burgaw Historic District which is revitalizing this quaint downtown.

Temple of Israel (1 S. 4th Street)

Peggy Pancoe Rosoff, Glenn Tetterton, Steve Unger, Chairs, Temple of Israel Restoration 150 Campaign | Bruce Bowman, BMH Architects | Sexton Construction

In 2020, the Temple of Israel–North Carolina’s oldest Jewish house of worship–closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and never reopened due to the adverse effects of water intrusion stemming from Hurricane Florence.

Pender County Historical Museum

After a four month closure, the Pender County Museum reopened in February with a pair of new exhibits that reimagine a visitor’s experience to the 1917 Burton-Noel House. The new exhibit “Canetuck Rosenwald School” interprets the preserved schoolhouse that educated Black first through sixth graders in rural Pender County from 1922 until 1958. The exhibit features the school’s original desks and scholarship of the late Claudia Stack, a filmmaker and expert on Rosenwald Schools. The museum, operated by the Pender County Historical Society, preserves the county’s history through thousands of documents, artifacts, photos, and genealogy. There is no cost to visit the museum, which is located at 200 W. Bridgers Street in Burgaw, but donations are welcomed.

Image credit: Our State Magazine, Matt Ray Photography

Barbara Sullivan

Barbara Sullivan is an advocate for native plants, having authored two books published by the University of North Carolina Press: Garden Perennials in the Coastal South and Climate Change Gardening for the South. Her garden in the Wilmington Historic District exemplifies sustainable practices in maintaining the integrity of our community’s historic districts, particularly the aspects of setting and location.

Blair Middleton

From 2018 to 2024, Blair Middleton served as the Historic Wilmington Foundation’s Office Manager. Middleton served as a bulwark of institutional knowledge during major transformations for the organization, including the relocation of HWF headquarters from the Wilmington National Cemetery to the William Worth House and leadership transition between executive directors Beth Rutledge and Travis Gilbert. Throughout her time with HWF, Middleton improved the quality of HWF’s programs by introducing a bluetooth headphone system called Whisper to Tar Heels Go Walking field trips, the documentation of HWF Plaque Guidelines which improved consistency, and an internal audit of HWF’s easement properties that ensured direct communication with property owners and compliance with protective covenants.

During her tenure, Middleton facilitated the digitization of the organization’s files and processes, modernizing HWF’s workflow and introducing efficiencies. As a volunteer coordinator and colleague, Middleton brought kindness, compassion, and dependableness to the workplace. Her attention to detail and capacity for organization were second-to-none. HWF is indebted to the talent, competency, and wisdom of Blair Middleton.

Captain Terry Bragg

Since 2008, Captain Terry Bragg has served as the executive director of the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial. Captain Bragg is a native of Jacksonville, NC, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University before continuing his graduate studies at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He spent 30 years in the United States Navy with posts in Key West, San Diego, Charleston, and Savannah, before arriving in Wilmington to head the state’s memorial to over 11,000 North Carolinians who made the ultimate sacrifice during WWII. Thanks to Captain Bragg’s visionary leadership, the Battleship North Carolina is better preserved and more protected for generations to come.

Under Captain Bragg’s leadership, a 1,909-foot permanent cofferdam was constructed in 2017 as an acceptable alternative to the routine drydocking required to support repairs and maintenance to the Battleship’s hull. As a result of the cofferdam, 1,800 square feet of wasted steel plating and framing were repaired in 2021. One year later, the State Employees Credit Union Memorial Walkway opened unparalleled views of the Battleship’s hull and marshlands of Eagles Island.

In 2018, the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial launched Living with Water, which seeks to mitigate the effects of flooding at the park caused by climate-driven rising sea levels. The project will re-naturalize parts of the existing parking lot, elevate remaining parking, and restore 800 linear feet of hardened shoreline to living shoreline. Collectively known as the Generations Campaign, these preservation projects during Captain Bragg’s tenure have raised $23 million in public and private funds.