Despite a "great number" of obstacles in running this year's Tamworth Regional Biennial Heritage Awards, the winners have been announced.
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In a special online broadcast on Friday morning, the virtual ceremony saw Tamworth Powerstation Museum claim two awards, and many other worthy winners like Kenneth Thomas Russell recognised for their valuable contribution to our community.
The inaugural winner of the The Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Award was Len Waters, for Len Waters Aboriginal Cultural Tours.
In its first year, the award seeks to raise awareness and conserve Aboriginal Cultural History within the Tamworth region.
The Leader Building restoration by Lionheart Property was named winner of the Adaptive Reuse category, for seamlessly transitioning the building's original purpose and design into a contemporary use.
In the Building Conservation category, recognising projects in the region that have preserved the built history of a structure whilst maintaining its integrity, the winner was Duncan and Megan Trousdale for the preservation work on Nundle's Odgers and McClelland Exchange Store.
Tamworth Powerstation Museum took out two awards; the first for Heritage Resources and Publications for the Veness Letter Book Conservation and Display, and the second in the category Heritage Tourism, Education and Interpretation for the completion of the Display Cabinet Program.
While a winner was not announced for the New Sympathetic Development category, a number of commendable projects were acknowledged.
The final award, The Warren Newman Memorial Award for Contribution to Heritage within the region, recognised a person who has made a significant and ongoing voluntary contribution to the conservation, promotion and understanding of cultural heritage within the Tamworth region.
It was awarded to Kenneth Thomas Russell, who has dedicated many years to the Tamworth Powerstation Museum, promoting Tamworth's City of Light cultural heritage and in particular, conserving Tamworth's pioneering heritage on electricity generation and supply during 1888 and 1972.
In addition to the seven award categories, three commendations were awarded to projects identified by the Tamworth Regional Heritage Working Group for their contribution to heritage.
These were awarded to Tamworth Regional Gallery, the Tamworth Regional Film and Sound Archive Centre and the National Guitar Museum.
Councillor Juanita Wilson, chairperson of the Tamworth Regional Heritage Working Group said it was brilliant to see so many nominations for the awards this year, despite the obvious challenges with COVID-19.
"We are fortunate to have many dedicated and passionate community members whose work continues to keep our heritage alive."
- Col Murray
"While we can't come together to celebrate these people and projects, a live broadcast was a wonderful chance for us to recognise their work and contribution to heritage within the Tamworth region," she said.
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Tamworth Regional Council Mayor, Cr Col Murray announced the winners of each of the categories in the live stream.
"It is a privilege to recognise the work that has been completed to conserve the Tamworth region's heritage," he said.
"We are fortunate to have many dedicated and passionate community members whose work continues to keep our heritage alive."
