2026 Awards Event

The City of Reno Historical Preservation Awards celebrate excellence in local historic preservation, including adaptive reuse projects, legacy businesses, home renovations, and the people who make all this happen.
 
See the 2026 Preservation Award Winners.

Information About the Annual Awards Program

The City of Reno has honored exceptional historic preservation efforts and projects, including historically relevant buildings and landmarks, adaptive re-use of historic buildings, individuals or groups that have made an impact on historic preservation in the City, and local businesses that contribute to the city's history, culture, and authentic identity.

See all previous award winners.

Benefits of Award Recognition:

  • Formal recognition at the HRC annual award reception in May.
  • Presentation of an award certificate.  
  • Award recipients will be mentioned on the City’s social media channels and will be recognized in city newsletters and the city website.

Historic Buildings

  • Historic buildings or landmarks are eligible if they are at least 50 years old, whether or not they are designated as historic resources on a register of historic places. 
  • Nominees must be located in the City of Reno, or if individuals must have contributed to historic preservation in the City of Reno. 
  • Nominees may not have received an award in the same category in a previous year. 
  • Nominations from previous years that were not awarded may be re-nominated. 
  • StoreSubmissions are invited from the public including owners, architects, craftsmen, contractors, landscape architects, engineers, planners, archaeologists, developers, architectural historians, organizations, volunteers, students and other members of the public interested in or engaging in historic preservation activities.
  • Submissions require the written permission of the owner before entries will be awarded.

Death and TaxesAward Categories

The program awards accomplishments in the following categories.

Historic Buildings and Projects

  1. Residential - Outstanding renovation, restoration, and/or preservation of a single family home or multi-family residential building.
  2. Non-Residential - Outstanding renovation, restoration, preservation, or adaptive reuse of a historic structure. Non-residential category includes all structures which are not used primarily as a residence.
  3. Historic Landmark Award - Existing structures, landscapes, objects, etc. that are considered to be of citywide, state, or regional significance.
  4. Historical Project - Individual or group that has produced a publication, significant research, media production, public outreach, or other initiative to promote preservation within the community.

Individuals

  1. Distinguished Service - An individual or group that has shown through their work a career in preservation that has resulted in the preservation of structures, education, and other related preservation activities.
  2. Advocate - An individual or group that has through education, deeds, or specific historic restoration(s) increased the public awareness of historic preservation within the community.

Legacy BusinessBusinesses

  1. Legacy Business Award - Independent local businesses that contribute to the history, culture, and authentic identity of the City of Reno and have been in operation continuously for at least the last 50 years.

Nominations for the 2026 award cycle are now closed.

Nominations for the 2026 Award Cycle will be accepted after January 1st, 2026 and will be due on March 31st. If you have questions about making a nomination, contact Melissa Hafey, hafeym@reno.gov.

See prior award recipients:

Prior Award Recipients through 2025

City of Reno Legacy Businesses