Delaware Canal Vision Study Receives Two Prestigious Awards

The Delaware Canal Vision Study initiated by Delaware Canal 21 and completed in 2017 has won two prestigious planning and historic preservation awards in recent weeks.

Today, during a ceremony at Wilson College in Chambersburg, PA, Preservation Pennsylvania presented its 2019 Historic Preservation Communications Award to honor the partners who contributed to the winning Delaware Canal Vision Study project, including: Delaware Canal 21, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, the William Penn Foundation, Simone Collins Landscape Architecture, and Harris Steinberg, AIA.

Preservation Pennsylvania is the Commonwealth's only statewide, non-profit, membership organization dedicated to the protection of historically and architecturally significant properties.

The Preservation PA award follows a 2019 Honor Award in April  bestowed on the project planning team, Simone Collins Landscape Architecture of Norristown, PA, by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) - Pennsylvania and Delaware Chapter in the Analysis and Planning category for their work in producing the Delaware Canal Vision Study 2017. 

According to the Society, “The Delaware Canal Vision Study redefined the partnership paradigm for 21st Century stewardship of this extraordinary 60-mile x 60-foot wide Pennsylvania State Park waterway; national trail; and National Historic Landmark.”

The ASLA citation includes remarks from the professional award jurors:

·      “Very thorough and comprehensive.

·      Thorough, complex, but made understandable.  Great foundation for future work.

·      Intensely comprehensive analysis. 

·      This is the kind of work that brings positive impacts for decades.  Large complex study area.  Value to large population.

·      In-depth analysis and historical content.”

“We at Delaware Canal 21 are very pleased and proud that we and our partners have been honored in this way,” said Allen Black, chairman of the group. 

“And the best thing is that the Vision Study is not sitting on a dusty desk somewhere,” Black continued. “It is being used as we speak in several new canal improvement projects initiated by Delaware Canal 21 in collaboration with the William Penn Foundation, DCNR, and the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor.”

The Delaware Canal Vision Study 2017 can be found at: www.delawarecanalvision.org.