Preservation Awards

Honoring Those Who Honor Our Built History

HLC Historic Preservation Awards

Each year, the board of Historic Larimer County selects one or more recipients for its annual Historic Preservation Awards.

2026 Historic Preservation Award Winner – Carol Tunner

Historic Larimer County honored Carol Tunner for her long career of historic preservation in Fort Collins. Carol was not only the Preservation Planner for the City of Fort Collins for many years, but she was also instrumental in saving the Fort Collins Trolley and restoring the trolley line. Carol helped to shape Fort Collins’ preservation program and has been pivotal in saving many of the historic sites that we know and love today.

2026 Historic Preservation Award Winner – Lynda Lloyd

Historic Larimer County honored Lynda Lloyd for her nearly two decades of leadership over the Poudre Landmarks Historic Homes Tour. By hosting this tour, Lynda not only supported the Poudre Landmarks Foundation (and by extension the Avery House and Water Works), but she also introduced members of the public to historic homes and architecture, creating a love and appreciation for preservation and the use of historic buildings.

2025 Historic Preservation Award Winner – Dick Spiess

Historic Larimer County honored Dick Spiess for his dedication to the restoration of the 1883 Water Works as well as the education of the public about the construction, use, and preservation of the site. Dick’s attention to detail and tireless devotion to authentic reconstruction of various parts of the building are a testament to his love of the site and his joy in sharing it with others.

2025 Historic Preservation Award Winner – Wayne Sundberg

Historic Larimer County honored Wayne Sundberg for a lifetime of dedication to the teaching of local history and the support of historic preservation in Fort Collins and throughout Larimer County. As a history teacher, Wayne was well positioned to teach students not only national and international history, but also to relate it back to our own local story. Wayne was an early member of the Fort Collins Landmark Preservation Commission and advocated for the preservation of downtown Fort Collins at a time when the City Council was pushing to tear down several buildings in order to construct a downtown bypass.

2024 Historic Preservation Award Winner – Bill Meirath

Historic Larimer County honored Bill Meirath for his preservation of location history through the collection of artifacts, information, and most especially through the historic preservation of the Mariano Medina Family Gravesite. Bill took note of the gravesite when it was at risk of redevelopment, advocated for its preservation and for the area to be turned into a park, and he regularly maintains the site, which now belongs to the Loveland Historical Society, through grants and a cadre of volunteers.

2024 Historic Preservation Award Winner – Kenneth Jessen

Historic Larimer County honored Ken Jessen for his lifetime of researching and recording local history, publishing a variety of history books, teaching classes on history, publishing over 1,000 articles on local history in the Loveland Reporter-Herald, and hosting tours and talks on local history. Ken has been a Historic Larimer County member since the reboot in 2017 and has been a strong supporter of historic preservation and remembrance in Loveland and Larimer County.

2023 Historic Preservation Award Winners – Jim and Carol Burrill

The Burrills were honored in 2023 for their decades long care and maintenance for the Emma Malaby Grocery in Fort Collins. The property had been in Jim’s family since 1906 and was a beloved part of the family’s history. In the Spring of 2023, Jim and Carol donated the store and the lot that it sits on to Historic Larimer County, ensuring that the site will be loved and cared for into the future. Though the Burrill’s were awarded in 2023, the actual award ceremony did not take place until the summer of 2024 at the SummerFest 2024 event held in the store.

2022 Historic Preservation Award Winners – Carl and Karen McWilliams

Through the pursuit of independent careers in the field of historic preservation, Carl and Karen have dedicated more than three decades each to the documentation and protection of historic resources in Larimer County and beyond. Today they are regarded as two of the most knowledgeable and respected preservation experts in Northern Colorado.

2021 Historic Preservation Award Winner – D. L. Roberts

D. L. Roberts founded the Larimer County Historic Trust in 1988 in order to save a cabin that was threatened by the development of a new neighborhood on the southwest end of Fort Collins. The organization became the Larimer County Historic Alliance and continued to advocate for historic buildings throughout Fort Collins and Livermore. Roberts was active not only in historic preservation, but also environmental conservation, tying together two related efforts that have often been siloed from each other. Roberts was president of the Larimer County Historic Alliance from 1988 to 2017 when the organization was renamed Historic Larimer County. Roberts continues to sit on the board and actively represents the Livermore and Virgnia Dale communities within the organization.

2019 Historic Preservation Award Winner – Mark French and the Berthoud Historical Society

The Berthoud Historical Society has been rescuing, restoring, maintaining and sharing several of Berthoud’s earliest and most important structures. In addition to running the local history museum, the organization also operates the historic McCarty-Fickel house. Through educational programs and entertaining fundraising events, President Mark French, and the Berthoud Historical Society have kept history alive in this Little Thompson Valley community.

2019 Historic Preservation Award Winner – Dan & Rudi Taylor and John & Whitney Way

Dan & Rudi Taylor purchased the historic Jefferes Garage and the adjacent Zoller’s Shoe Shop building in 2011. Treasuring the many stories these buildings told, they sought to save, rehabilite and find a compatible new use for the site. They partnered with John and Whitney Way, who in May of 2012, opened up City Star Brewing. The Jefferes Garage had also, at one time, been the City Star Barn and Livery Stable. Through careful rehabilitation of the buildings, Northern Coloradans can now enjoy a good beer and a bit of history on a night out in Berthoud’s historic downtown.

2018 Historic Preservation Award Winner – David Lingle

Dave Lingle holds two degrees in architecture from Iowa State University and is a licensed architect in Colorado and New Mexico. In 1986 he founded the firm of Aller-Lingle Architects, now alm2s, of Fort Collins. In addition to growing his practice into one of the state’s leading architecture firms, Lingle’s expertise in historic preservation brought the firm recognition for its thoughtful historic structure assessments and design of creative historic preservation, rehabilitation, restoration and adaptive reuse projects. In addition to working on numerous preservation projects throughout Colorado, Lingle has an extensive resume with preservation in Larimer County.