Four new and recently rehabbed buildings and one long-time favorite architect were honored at the Portsmouth Advocates Awards and Annual Meeting.

Anne Whitney, who has served Portsmouth with her skilled architectural services since 1990, has been chosen to receive the prestigious Arthur J. Gerrier Award, which honors individuals for their service and commitment to our historic community. Arthur Gerrier was a member of the Portsmouth Advocates Board and an outstanding architectural historian.

Honoring Portsmouth's past while contributing to the vitality of Portsmouth's future – and gaining the approvals necessary from the Historic District Commission – is no simple undertaking. The Portsmouth Advocates honors projects that have managed all three, with creativity and inspiration. Owners and architects to be honored for recent project are:

For an outstanding example of Commercial Infill in the heart of downtown Portsmouth, 18 Congress Street. The old Eagle Photo site was developed by 6-16 Congress, LLC, Stephen Kelm, Managing Partner. The architect was Steven McHenry.

For Commercial Renovation, alongside the South Mill Pond millrace at the confluence of Pleasant, Marcy, South Mill and South Streets, Sanders Fish Market and South Street and Vine now stand out as architectural cornerstones of the South End. Both properties are owned by James Sanders and the Sanders family; Richard Philbrick was the general contractor.

For meeting the especially difficult challenge of building a new facility to house its archaeology and decorative arts collections in the midst of a museum campus honoring Puddle Dock's architectural past, the award for Historic Infill is being given to the Carter Collections Center. Strawbery Banke Museum, owner; JSA, Inc., architect.

The award for Historic Restoration, meticulously carried out, goes to the restoration of the Moffatt-Ladd Warehouse on Market Street, the final piece of a ten-year plan for the preservation of the museum's buildings and collections. Owned by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of New Hampshire and open to the public since 1912. The architect for the project was Philip Kendrick; contractors were Aaron Sturgis and Keith Trefethen; archaeologist was Independent Archaeological Consulting.