John Ellingsen, Lifetime Achievement
John Ellingsen received the most distinguished award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Historic Preservation for his tireless work over the past 30 years to save and protect historic Virginia and Nevada cities. From the early days of fixing leaky roofs and shoring up foundations to setting up displays and creating interpretive materials, and then on to working with legislators to bring Virginia and Nevada cities into state ownership, Mr. Ellingsen has devoted his entire career to these towns and to preserving this most important part of Montana history.
Former Montana Heritage Commission Director, Jeff Tiberi wrote, “John Ellingsen is the closest we humans will get to time travel. He deserves to be honored for his staying power, his adherence to preservation principles, and his keen insight into our use of the past. He is a cultural treasure of Montana, an icon for younger people starting out in the field of history, and a curator of time.”
Melissa Hartman, Outstanding Adaptive Reuse Project
Through five years of planning and meetings, Melissa Hartman of the Miles City Housing Authority helped secure $5 million in loans and grant funds, including federal low-income housing money, and a $50,000 grant from HGTV and the National Trust for Historic Preservation to preserve the century-old Miles City Hospital. The 1907 hospital and its 1920s addition now contains 21 of Miles City’s most attractive and affordable family housing rental units. The newly created apartments are within walking distance of schools, shops and downtown, and will help in the ongoing effort to bring life back to the traditional downtown center. This award recognizes Ms. Hartman’s perseverance and dedication to saving a historic downtown area treasure and to providing affordable housing that is close to downtown shops, schools, and parks.
Northern Cheyenne Rosebud & Wolf Mountains Battlefields Preservation Committee, Outstanding Preservation Leadership
Established by order of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, the Rosebud and Wolf Mountains Battlefield Preservation Committee advocates for the protection of two battlefields that stand out in the history of the West. These were the battle grounds upon which Cheyenne and Lakota people fought to preserve their homelands against the U.S. Army. The Rosebud and Wolf Mountains Battlefield Preservation Committee worked for years on behalf of the preservation of these sites, hosting commemorations of the historical events, aiding the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks in its master plan for the Rosebud Battlefield state park, and most recently, playing a leading role in the successful campaign to designate both battlefields as Montana’s most recent National Historic Landmarks. Steve Brady, Otto Braided Hair, William Walks Along and Conrad Fisher, all members of the committee, along with recent Northern Cheyenne tribal president Geri Small, worked tirelessly to secure the support of Governor Brian Schweitzer and all three of Montana’s Congressional delegation for the NHL designations. This award honors the longtime commitment and leadership by these individuals for preservation of these battlefields, and was presented in Lame Deer on October 29 as the tribe celebrated the landmark status of the Rosebud and Wolf Mountains battlefields.
DEV Properties, Outstanding Adaptive Reuse Projects
Partners Eric Berry, Vince Padilla, and Dave Rickerts were honored for their ongoing efforts to rehabilitate the former Kalispell General Hospital and the Libby High School. The Eastside Brick project in Kalispell has transformed the deteriorating hospital building in downtown Kalispell into dozens of beautiful condominium and artist live/work spaces. The project upgraded both the interior and exterior of the building without sacrificing its historic character. DEV was also honored for their current effort to rehabilitate the Libby School. In danger of demolition since 2003, DEV stepped in last year and purchased the school from the Libby school district. Plans are now complete to adapt the building into residential condominiums and commercial office and retail space. DEV’s vision and dedication to preserving and reusing downtown “anchors” like the hospital and the Libby School are models for breathing new life into downtown areas and should be recognized and promoted across Montana.
Janene Caywood and Milo McLeod, Outstanding Preservation Leadership
Janene Caywood and Milo McLeod, a dynamic preservation duo from Missoula, were presented with awards for Outstanding Preservation Leadership. Their combined expertise, enthusiasm, and attention to detail have resulted in countless documents that are not only a pleasure to read, but also the defining research on those topics.
Janene has successfully completed projects throughout the western United States and Alaska for federal, state and private clients. As a project manager and principal investigator, her work has included projects conducted under Sections 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act, as well as the National Environmental Policy Act. In addition, she has extensive experience with a variety of specialized National Park Service inventory and planning documents including Cultural Landscape Inventories, Cultural Landscape Reports, Historic Structures Reports, Historic Resource Studies, and HABS/HAER documentation. She was recently appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Montana Historical Society. She has been a leader in preservation issues, and her passion and earnest belief in documenting and protecting our history is inspiring.
Milo McLeod started out with the Forest Service in the mid 1970s, and throughout his career has contributed to archaeology fieldwork, historic resource survey, documentation, and physical preservation of our heritage. He received his Master’s degree from the University of Montana, with a thesis focused on the Lolo Trail and was the Forest Archaeologist on the Lolo National Forest since the early 1980s. McLeod’s work with the Passport in Time (PIT) volunteer projects has endeared him to people throughout the West, and resulted in the restoration of many historic places in Montana, including the Nine Mile Ranger Station and the Morgan Case Homestead. In the summer of 2007 he lead a PIT project at the terraced gardens, brining his career full circle, as he was on the original discovery team of that mysterious place.
Because of Caywood and McLeod many of Montana’s unique places are better understood and better cared for.
