Colorado College Campus Planner George Eckhardt has been named a recipient of the 2013 Stephen H. Hart Award for 15 years of historic preservation work on the CC campus. The award, presented by History Colorado, formerly the Colorado Historical Society, specifically cites Eckhardt’s “excellent preservation work at Colorado College.”

Eckhardt has worked with History Colorado’s State Historical Fund to secure more than $1,765,000 in grants to help preserve and restore buildings on the CC campus. The college has received 19 grants between 1992 and 2012, making it the recipient of more SHF grants than any other organization in the state.

Colorado College master carpenter Dan Crossey clamps the new handrail into place in Cossitt Hall.

Says Eckhardt, “One basic principle that I have applied is that we are not just ‘restoring’ buildings, but rather restoring and enhancing or improving the functions, purpose, and usefulness of our buildings. In the end, the true test is how much the occupants love their buildings.”

Eckhardt was a driving force behind CC’s Historic Walking Tour, a self-guided tour featuring 13 Colorado College buildings currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the State Register of Historic Properties. The tour, developed in 2008, is aimed at educating the college and local community about CC’s historic resources and preservation work. Learn more at http://www2.coloradocollege.edu/welcome/walkingtour/