Individuals, Groups and/or Projects can be nominated under the following Criteria:

Outstanding Rehabilitation
This category honors excellence in adaptive use/rehabilitation of a structure. Rehabilitation is defined as: “The act or process of returning a property to a state of utility through repair or alteration which makes possible an efficient contemporary use while preserving those portions or features of the property which are significant to its historical, architectural, and cultural values.” (GA Trust for Historic Preservation Awards Criteria). Employment of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation is required in this category.

Outstanding Restoration
Restoration is defined as: “The act or process of accurately recovering the form and details of a property and its setting as it appeared at a particular period of time by means of the removal of later work or by the replacement of missing earlier work.” (GA Trust Criteria). This award is presented to restoration projects of exemplary quality completed in the course of the last three years. Consistent employment of the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Restoration is a necessary qualification.

Stewardship
Given to an individual or an organization in recognition of exceptional long-term property care in the strictest sense of preservation: acting in the role of caretaker.

Outstanding New Construction in a Historic Area
This new Awards category recognizes contemporary construction that is compatible to its historic surroundings. Projects may be a new addition to a historic building or a new building in a historic residential or commercial area. Projects will be judged to be “contemporary yet historically compatible” upon the following criteria: scale, massing, setback, materials, roof shape, and window openings, and overall design.

Excellence in Community Revitalization
This category honors excellence in new construction or adaptive use of historic or non-historic structures. It acknowledges those projects that add to and encourage overall community revitalization.

Outstanding Achievement
Recognizing exemplary activities in the field of historic preservation, this award is presented to persons, groups, businesses, and government entities for a wide variety of projects. Due to the diversity of project format, broad criteria are adopted:
1. Contribution to the advancement of and/or having a positive impact on the field of historic preservation.
2. Consistent employment of standard preservation practices, particularly those stipulated in the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.

Publications and Programs
This category honors successful programs as evidenced by their implementation. Publications, in the field of preservation, possessing a high degree of graphic design integrity and/or wide use or impact are also recognized by this award.

Grassroots Preservation
This category honors individuals or groups that have made a significant contribution to local preservation through grassroots education and advocacy, e.g. a neighborhood organization.

Volunteer of the Year
Given for outstanding service to the Athens-Clarke Heritage Foundation over the past year.