Published: May 14, 2008 11:13 pm            

House, Yellow Bird honored for outstanding preservation

Claudette Shaheen and the Yellow Bird gift shop in downtown Dalton received Outstanding Preservation Project awards for 2007 from the city of Dalton’s Historic Preservation Commission on Wednesday.

Mayor David Pennington presented the awards during the city’s “Historic Harmony” event inside City Hall. The event was moved from the Dalton Green because of rain.

Shaheen was recognized for her house at 400 Fairview Drive in the Murray Hill-Thornton Avenue Historic District.

“Thank you very much,” Shaheen said after receiving the award from Pennington. “It’s been a challenge, but it’s been a wonderful challenge because I love my house.”

“We appreciate what you’ve done,” Pennington replied.

Sally Halker, owner of the Yellow Bird at 235 N. Hamilton St., accepted the award for the gift shop, which is located in the downtown historic district.

“It’s an effort of love and money,” said Halker simply, bringing laughter from those in the audience.

Historic Preservation Commission chairwoman Cathy Snyder said both Shaheen and Halker had worked hard on their projects.

“Claudette came before us many times about changing their home and she sat with us and we sat with her,” said Snyder.

Pennington read a proclamation before presenting both awards noting that “historic preservation gives the citizens of our community a deeper understanding of their diverse heritage and a greater appreciation of our unique historic and natural resources,” and it is an “effective tool to build awareness with the concerns of neighborhood history, the city’s heritage, and the economic benefits realized by initiating improvements and restoring a community to a thriving condition.”

“On behalf of the city of Dalton I want to thank the HPC for what they do for the city as far as beautifying it,” Pennington told Snyder.

“HPC has been very busy this past year with residential and downtown projects,” Snyder said. “Our residents continue to renovate and maintain their homes to provide Dalton two beautiful historic districts. We have the Murray Hill-Thornton Avenue Historic District and over across Walnut the McCarty Subdivision Historic District.”

Snyder also mentioned the downtown historic district.

“We at the HPC are proud to be a part of the continued revitalization of downtown and we look forward to many more great projects, so please shop and dine downtown,” she said.

Kevin McAuliff, the historian for the Dalton Historic Preservation Commission and secretary of the Whitfield County Historic Preservation Commission, provided an update on the county’s preservation efforts.

“Our focus is very much different,” McAuliff said. “What we have done primarily is to seek to obtain and preserve Civil War sites. The county a number of years ago was able to get 625 acres on the north side of Rocky Face Ridge. In conjunction with that we also got a donation of about 32 acres to the south. Unfortunately, the two are not contiguous. As time goes on we would like to protect more land and purchase land that’s between our large parcel and our small parcel.

“We’re also focusing on other acquisitions in the county. About two years ago, at the recommendation of the Historic Preservation Commission, the county designated as local historic districts our 625-acre parcel and our 32-acre parcel, so these are Whitfield County’s first protected local historic districts.”

        

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