Cranston Couple Wins Preservation Award

Jim Winoker fell in love with old buildings more than 50 years ago when he walked from his boyhood home in South Providence to Classical High School. In the city's jewelery district, he learned to appreciate the importance of historic structures.

Manufacturers soon abandoned the area and Jim, along with his wife, Marilyn Winoker, both of Cranston, got to work renovating old buildings. Their first project was in 1977 at 222 Richmond Street, long before the area became an historic district. Other projects include Dyerville Mill, a Greek Revival mill built in Providence in 1835; Cherry & Webb in 1984, the Biltmore Hotel in 1990; and the redevelopment of the Union Station Complex.

In 2008, the couple won a Rhode Island State Historic Preservation Award for their work on the Art Modern Rosedale Apartments in Cranston. Their most recent project was completed this year near Allens Avenue — six manufacturing buildings built in the 1920s known as Manu Center.

The Winoker's decades of work preserving Rhode Island's historic buildings has garnered them yet another award — the Frederick C. Williamson Professional Leadership Award, the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission and Preserve Rhode Island jointly announced.

The Rhody Awards are doled out to "individuals, organizations and projects for their contribution to the preservation of Rhode Island's historic places," according to a release.

The award recipients will be honored at a celebration on Oct. 14 at the Rhode Island State House.

Also awarded are:

• Cecelia St. Jean of Warwick, recipient of the Antoinette F. Downing Volunteer Service Award for her preservation work in Pawtuxet Valley for more than 20 years. She has been an active member of the Pawtuxet Valley Preservation and Historical Society, an archivist, genealogist and local historian and editor of the society's newsletter, The Pawtuxet Valley Historian.
• M. Adele Anthony of Warwick, for her work preserving the historic Peter Green House in Warwick's Conimicut Village. The house is circa 1750 and was in deplorable shape when she bought the home. The two-year renovation project restored virtually every component of the house.
• Paul A. Robinson of East Greenwich, recipient of a special recognition award, for his work in the field of archeology in Rhode Island and the northeast and his lasting impact on the state's history as an employee of the Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission, of which he retired from in August of this year.
  Robinson oversaw the expansion of the state’s archaeological survey to include more than 2,000 significant archaeological sites, and he was personally involved in the process of identifying and preserving many of them from coastal salt ponds, to ancient settlements in the heart of Providence, to the hills of northern Rhode Island.
  Most recently Paul led efforts to save a 900-year-old Narragansett Indian village from destruction, and he initiated the Nipsachuck project to document and preserve two battlefields dating from King Phillip's War, 1675-1676. In his work, Paul has consistently emphasized consultation and cooperation. Archaeology in Rhode Island has benefited from his close working relationships with Narragansett Tribal Historic Preservation Officer John Brown and with professional and academic colleagues.

The Rhode Island Preservation Celebration and Rhody Awards event is open to the public and features local beverages, appetizers, a silent auction, and a raffle. Tickets cost $25 in advance or $30 at the door. To buy a ticket or request more information, call (401)272-5101 or visit www.preserveri.org.