October 25, 2007

The Landmark Group Founder Wins Preservation North Carolina’s Top Award

DeWayne H. Anderson, founder and chairman of Winston-Salem developers known as The Landmark Group, will receive Preservation North Carolina’s 2007 Ruth Coltrane Cannon Award at a ceremony in Raleigh on Oct. 26.

The award is the most prestigious for historic preservation work given in the state, according to J. Myrick Howard, president of Preservation North Carolina.

“This award is richly deserved,” Howard said.

The award caps Anderson’s career of more than 40 years as architect, planner and preservationist. Fifteen years ago, Preservation North Carolina recognized Anderson’s work as a developer with its L. Vincent Lowe Business Award.

Under his leadership, The Landmark Group has renovated historic structures across North Carolina and elsewhere in the Southeast. Many buildings were given new life as affordable housing for families or elderly residents. The list in North Carolina includes a school in Randleman that NASCAR legend Richard Petty attended as a child, as well as schools in Clayton, Edenton, Henderson, Kinston, Lenoir, Madison, Reidsville and Statesville; hospitals in Wilmington and Windsor; and hotels in Kinston and Reidsville.

In Winston-Salem, Landmark converted 19th century tobacco buildings into 21st century upscale lofts, and in Kinston won a national prize for turning an historic tobacco warehouse into affordable loft housing for working families.

In Weldon, Landmark’s renovation of five historic buildings in the heart of downtown is one of two finalists for a 2007 J. Timothy Anderson Award for Excellence in Historic Rehabilitation that the National Housing & Rehabilitation Association will present in Boston on Oct. 29.

Weldon Mayor G.W. “Johnny” Draper Jr. said that when town officials met with Anderson in 2003, they were convinced The Landmark Group could do the job.

“He toured the buildings,” the mayor recalled. “He said, ‘I’m ready. I’ve seen old buildings, and I know how these projects work.’”

The Preservation North Carolina awards reception will begin 7 p.m. Oct. 26, at the State Capitol in Raleigh. After the reception, the awards will be presented at the North Carolina Museum of History in the Daniels Auditorium.