Paul Mowry presents Nancy Callaghan with an award at the Preservation Society of Pawtucket’s 2008 awards ceremony at the Visitor Center in Pawtucket Monday. Mowry is society president. Callaghan was honored for her renovation of Callaghan Gardens, along Barton and Olive Streets. Times photo/Butch Adams 

By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET —  Unsightly vinyl siding, squirrel infestation, long-obsolete window sizes and overgrown shrubs were just some of the problems encountered by the brave souls who in recent years purchased old properties in the city.

Yet, through hard work and effort, many of these dilapidated buildings have been transformed into beautiful and functional living and working spaces that also help keep alive the city’s rich past.
The Pawtucket Preservation Society (PSP) honored these folks Monday night at the 2008 Neighborhood Preservation Awards ceremony at the Blackstone Valley Visitor Center. Twelve local properties were recognized as being “outstanding examples of local preservation,” according to PSP president Paul Mowry.
Mowry described the event as “a feel good ceremony ... with everything looking good and rosy in the city.” He added that the non-profit PSP, incorporated in 1978, has been conducting the preservation awards ceremonies since the early 1990s.
Properties that were lauded ranged from such large-scale renovation projects as the Hope Artiste Village, the Grant commercial building and the Pawtucket YMCA, to smaller private homes and bungalows. “We’ve tried to get some from all areas of the city,” Mowry said.
Photographer Aaron Usher gave a slide presentation of all of the award-winning properties.
In addition to the awards, the PSP presented two homeowners with an exterior marker that designates them as historical properties. Receiving this designation were houses at 184 Glenwood Avenue and 98 Summit Street.
Ron Wierks, of Urban Smart Growth, whose company developed the Hope Artistes Village in the former Hope Webbing and Schoolhouse Candy mills at 1005 Main St., said the sprawling, 650,000-square foot site didn’t seem to lend itself to just one use. “So we decided to create a village ... a mix of residential, retail and light manufacturing,” he said, explaining how the “live/work” concept came about.
Although there were numerous fire code issues and structural challenges to overcome, including having to create their own window company to preserve the existing antique glass panes, he noted that the complex is now starting to fill up with both residential and retail tenants.
Bob Verdun, executive director of the Pawtucket YMCA at 10 Summer St., said it was important to “Y” officials to preserve the character of the 1908-era building during a recent $9 million renovation project. He credited architect Dana Newbrook of AI Designs for successfully retaining the facility’s history and culture while modernizing it for today’s members.
Among the homeowners, Juris Sietins was praised for the rehabilitation he did to a house at 15 Tower St. He said he had originally planned to renovate the house and resell it, but liked the neighborhood so much that he decided to move there from Sandwich, Mass.
However, he said on the day when he showed the house to his wife, “every screwed up muffler was going up that hill” in front, he joked. Since then, however, he said the couple has been very happy living in their restored 1880s “and everyone has gotten their muffler fixed.”
Cary Donaldson and Ab Verrit, the owners of a small l928 bungalow at 100 Oakhill Ave. that has been restored, said she and her partner were honored to receive the award, as they had just purchased the house last spring. “This is very cool. We did all of the work ourselves, and we appreciate the recognition,” she said.
James Levanus, who received a marker officially designating his home at 184 Glenwood Ave. as the 1877 Henry Althans House, said he discovered that the house had once served as a German bakery. He noted that the house has numerous unique architectural features inside that makes it a pleasant place for him and his three children.
However, he admitted that he finds the stone-lined basement “a little creepy. The kids won’t go down there, and I don’t like it too much either,” he said, smiling.
A sense of the macabre also surrounds the stately home of Al Amaral at 98 Summit St. He said the large 1872 Ellis Pierce house in Quality Hill, with its Italianate architecture, has been in his family since 1947 and he has lived there his entire life. He added, however, that a past owner of the house, reportedly a wealthy oil tycoon, lost his fortune in the Great Depression and “hung himself in the attic.”
Others receiving awards included Jeffrey and Bethany’s Brier, who own a  home at 695-697 East Ave.; the studio on North Montgomery Street of artists Gretchen Dow Simpson and Ruth Mimo Gordon Riley; a triangular-shaped office building at 251 Cottage St. belonging to Daniel and Michelle Stebbins; and the Chinese Christian Church property at 289 Roosevelt Ave. that is used for senior housing.
Additionally, J. Hogue and Michael Lozano were honored for their restoration of the Grant building at 250 Main St. as commercial and studio space; Peter Hunt of Dogwood Properties was praised for his rehabilitation of a house at 43 Spring St.; the Pawtucket Community Development Corporation was singled out for Callaghan Gardens affordable housing at 42-94 Barton St. and 42-46 Olive St.; and the city’s Planning and Redevelopment Department was noted for the renovation of the Slater Park bandstand.