The Annual Preservation Awards are Historic Ithaca’s longest standing tradition, with the first award given in 1968 to Joseph Ciaschi for his conversion of the abandoned Lehigh Valley Railroad Station into the Station Restaurant, perhaps the earliest adaptive reuse project in Tompkins County. Later awards included the DeWitt Mall adaptive reuse (1974), St. James AME Zion Church exterior restoration (1982), and the Ithaca Farmer’s Market pavilion construction (1991). Among the list of award winning projects are many of the most outstanding preservation achievements in Tompkins County’s recent history.
Station Restaurant photo (Tompkins County New York tourism magazine, p 57)