Three Newport honorees are among the 10 recipients of Preserve Rhode Island’s 2026 Rhody Awards for Historic Preservation, and the public has until noon Friday to vote for the Audience Award.
Preserve Rhode Island celebrated this year’s honorees Sunday at the WaterFire Arts Center in Providence. An independent jury of historians, architects, developers, community leaders and preservationists selected the 10 from the field of nominations, according to the organization.
The Newport honorees:
Agassiz Mansion at Castle Hill Inn — Community Impact Award. After a February fire at the mansion, Kirby Perkins Construction repaired the building within three months, working through a blizzard. The work included replicating damaged butternut wood features in the bar area, saving as much original woodwork as possible and restoring the exterior, according to Preserve RI.
Lead Paint Adaptation and Mitigation — Community Impact Award. Responding to Rhode Island’s expanded lead safety requirements, the Newport Restoration Foundation, with support from the city of Newport, contracted Heritage Restoration to research how historic properties can meet the code. The result was two handbooks — one for homeowners, one for building professionals — that have since been adopted statewide and used by owners bringing historic rental properties up to code.
Michael Semenza — Frederick C. Williamson Professional Award. Preserve RI credited Semenza’s stewardship of Salve Regina University’s collection of historic properties, and his fundraising work, including a $202,000 grant from the J. Paul Getty Trust and the Arthur Ross Award for Stewardship from the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art.
“It is a pleasure to celebrate these awardees, who are carrying on an important Rhode Island tradition of caring about, and caring for, our historic structures and places,” Ruth Taylor, Preserve Rhode Island’s interim executive director, said in a statement. “This tradition should continue to be on all of our minds — it is the main reason that we live in such a beautiful and evocative place.”
The other honorees are Providence restoration contractor Neal Kaplan (Stephen J. Tyson Sr. Artisan Award); Providence homeowners Gillian Lang and Edward Lloyd, for work on the John Truman House (Homeowner Award); Woonsocket’s Millrace District, where NeighborWorks Blackstone River Valley converted three mill buildings into 70 housing units (Preservation Project Award); Narragansett’s Windmill Building, saved from demolition by the Narragansett Historical Society (Community Impact Award); the Providence Preservation Society’s urban renewal guide (Community Impact Award); the Providence Art Club (Stewardship Award); and the Old State House in Providence, where the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission completed a multi-year, $10 million investment (Stewardship Award).
Videos of each honoree and the Audience Award ballot are available at preserveri.org. Voting closes at noon Friday, Oct. 30.
