Several Back Bay Buildings Win Preservation Achievement Awards

Several Back Bay buildings, including an historic church and a bank, will be recipients of the Boston Preservation Alliance 2013 Preservation Achievement Awards, to be handed out in October.

The Church of the Covenant at 67 Newbury St., Brookline Bank at 131 Clarendon St., Boston Architectural College at 951 Boylston St. and the building at 234 Berkeley St. were the local winners.

According to the Boston Preservation Alliance, the awards "recognize the city’s best examples of historic preservation, sensitive new development, and skillful reconstruction - key components of Boston's rich past, promising future, and current vitality."

The Church of the Covenant won for their Dorcas window restoration, the original of which was vandalized and smashed in 2011.

"The preservation of the window at the Church of the Covenant is a miraculous feat, demonstrating skill, creativity, and perseverance on a remarkable scale," said Greg Galer, Executive Director of the Boston Preservation Alliance, in a statement.

Brookline Bank's rehabilitation of 131 Clarendon St. included an effort to restore the original Classical Revival details of the building from the early 1900s. Some changes had been made to the building when the Hard Rock Cafe moved in during the 1980s

"It's a pleasure to see this building restored to historic appearance and in active use," Galer said.

For 234 Berkeley St., owner/developer WS Development set out to renovate the building originally built as the New England Museum of Natural History. The result was praised by the Alliance for its "magnificent attention to detail" among other accolades.

"It's a pleasure to recognize the preservation of one of the most fabulous and most prominent buildings in the Back Bay," Galer said. "For years the preservation community feared the long-term outcome here and now we have a restored masterpiece of which we can all be proud."

Boston Architectural College rehabilitated 951 Boylston St., which was originally the first combined police and fire station in the city and later the Institute for Contemporary Art.

BAC finished its rehab of the building in 2012, which "they adapted into a state-of-the-art educational facility for teaching, exhibition, and fostering community among the students, faculty, and public," according to the Alliance.

The awards will take place Oct. 21 at 5:30 p.m. at the Paramount Theater on Washington Street. Tickets can be purchased here.