Excellence Award Spotlight: Steven Engelhart
Steven Engelhart posing in front of the Adirondack Architectural Heritage office in Keeseville, NY.
Steven Engelhart has been named one of this year’s Excellence in Historic Preservation award winners.
“I am truly honored to be recognized by the Preservation League with this award. I am one of those truly fortunate people who have enjoyed going to work every day for the last 27 years while I’ve been AARCH’s executive director. This is because the work of the organization has been such a great fit for my skills and passions but, more importantly, because I’ve had the great pleasure of working with so many incredible people, in almost every community in the Adirondacks, to do great things to improve the vitality of this extraordinary place we live in and love” said Steven Engelhart, Executive Director of Adirondack Architectural Heritage.
Steven Engelhart exemplifies the best qualities of a preservationist. He has been the most influential preservation advocate in New York’s Adirondack region in recent decades. With over 40 years of experience in the field of historic preservation, Steven has become a leading voice in preservation efforts throughout this underserved region and a readily identifiable leader in saving its treasured places. One is hard-pressed to find a more genuine, collaborative, or enthusiastic preservationist. His passion is not merely for the built environment, but even more so for the people whose stories these places tell.
For 27 years, Steven has served as Executive Director of Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH), the nonprofit historic preservation organization for New York’s 6 million-acre Adirondack Park and surrounding region, which comprises 12 counties and 102 towns and villages. Since 1990, Steven has strengthened historic preservation efforts in the Adirondacks, bringing to light the role that its diverse and often underappreciated communities have played in shaping statewide heritage. Upon his retirement at the end of 2021, Steven will no doubt remain an ally for saving the places that matter in the Adirondacks.
“Steven Engelhart has been a stalwart preservation advocate for decades, and the League has been honored to work closely with him on a range of projects over the years,” said Preservation League President Jay DiLorenzo. “From the campaign to save Great Camp Santanoni, a dedication to the region’s vernacular architecture, and a commitment to the people who call the Adirondacks home, Steven is truly deserving of this statewide recognition.”
Click here for everything about the 2021 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award winners!
Since 1984, the Preservation League’s statewide awards program has highlighted projects, organizations, publications, and individuals that exemplify best practices in historic preservation and recognize the people who are using historic preservation to build stronger neighborhoods, create local jobs, provide affordable housing, open our eyes to overlooked history, and save the places that are special to all of us.