Save America's Treasures Awarded the Prestigious Keystone Award

The American Architectural Foundation (AAF) presented its 2007 Keystone Award at the 18th annual Accent on Architecture Gala to Save America's Treasures (SAT) and its public-private partnership's role in protecting and preserving the architectural, artistic and cultural legacy of the United States. The award recognizes outstanding leadership in the field of architecture and design by organizations or individuals outside of the architectural profession that enriches and transforms communities. The reading of a letter from the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) Honorary Chairman Mrs. Laura Bush began the award presentation. In her letter, she said, “I’m delighted that you are giving this year’s award to the Save America's Treasures program. This excellent program is making great strides in encouraging the preservation and use of our nation’s irreplaceable heritage treasures.”

Adair Wakefield Margo, PCAH Chairman, accepted the award on behalf of the federal SAT partners—the National Park Service (NPS), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Accepting on behalf of SAT's private partner was Richard Moe, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP). Representative Norman Dicks, Chairman, House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, joined Margo and Moe and underscored in his remarks the importance of this federal investment to the future of the nation's cultural and historic legacy.

Adair Margo, PCAH Chairman, accepts the prestigious Keystone Award on behalf of Save America's Treasures at the Accent on Architecture Gala.

In her acceptance remarks, Chairman Margo credited SAT's success to its catalytic role in engaging thousands of people from architects and engineers to dancers and historians in SAT preservation projects. She also reminded the audience of almost 1000 architects, business and government leaders that Save America's Treasures is “about preserving many of the pieces that make up the whole of our history” from icons like the Star-Spangled Banner to the less familiar but no less important places like Fort Davis in West Texas.

Since 1999, SAT has made more than 400 awards through a multi-agency collaboration between the National Park Service, which manages the program with the President's Committee and the NEA, NEH and IMLS. Save America's Treasures’ achievements rests on this unique federal partnership and the private sector leadership of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has raised more than $60 million in matching funds.

“Save America's Treasures is an excellent example of the success that can be achieved when public and private interests work together to support a worthy cause—the preservation of our architectural history and cultural inheritance. These important symbols of our country and its culture have found an advocate and champion in Save America's Treasures. Through its leadership, Save America's Treasures inspires us to contemplate the significance of our built environment and preserve it for future generations," said Eric Cantor, Chair of the AAF Board of Regents.

The Keystone Award was one of several awards to outstanding individuals, architectural works and firms, which exhibited both excellence and architecture's role in creating livable communities. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial and its creator Maya Lin received the American Institute of Architects' (AIA) 25 year award for its ongoing impact on our national consciousness; Edward Larrabee Barnes received AIA's highest individual award, the Gold Medal; and the AIA Architectural Award, its highest honor for a firm, was made to Leers Weinzapfel Associates for its consistently distinguished work over time. The work of these architects and firms testify to the power of architectural icons and other national treasures in defining our country's genius and accomplishments. Save America's Treasures is the only federal program dedicated to preserving, conserving and rescuing these national treasures for future generations.

The Accent on Architecture Gala is the nation's preeminent celebration of architecture and design excellence. It is presented each year by the American Architectural Foundation in association with the American Institute of Architects. The American Architectural Foundation (AAF) is a national nonprofit organization that educates individuals and communities about the power of architecture to transform lives and improve the places where we live, learn, work, and play.