Charlottetown hands out heritage awards

The City of Charlottetown celebrated Heritage Day on Tuesday by honouring the people behind several renovations or refurbishments of historic properties in the city.

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Heritage awards were given to:

• Firouz Aghdasi, for "extraordinary" renovations of his 1870 commercial building at 32 Queen Street/71 Water Street.
• Angus Orford and Karen Rose for the "historically sensitive" refurbishment of Houle House at 96 Prince Street.
• Seacross Inc., for ensuring that the historic facade design was acknowledged during renovations at the Apothecaries Hall, at the corner of Graftonand Queen streets.
• JoaquimdaFonseca,for years of masonry restoration and efforts toensurethe preservation of many of the city's masonry buildings.

The Robertson Library at the University of Prince Edward Island was also honoured with a heritage award for the development of Islandarchives.ca, which catalogues P.E.I.'s heritage online.

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'We cannot preserve it or restore it alone'

The Catherine Hennessey Award, established in 2011 to honour the long-time historian, author, and heritage activist, was presented to Red Sands Development for conversion of the former Notre Dame Convent on Sydney Street to the Sydney Boutique Inn and Suites.

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"It's important that we continue to recognize the people who are passionate about our history," Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee said in a statement.

"We cannot preserve or restore it alone, and we appreciate the dedication of those individuals who have worked hard to ensure we can continue to celebrate our heritage."

The city also unveiled an exhibit about Charlottetown's national historic sites. It will be featured in the storefront windows of the Planning and Heritage Department on Queen Street for one month.

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