Orchid Awards Celebrate History, Stewardship, Community

MOSCOW – Four people and projects were presented with annual Orchid Awards for their stewardship of history by the Moscow Historic Preservation Commission at a ceremony Thursday night. 

Outgoing Mayor Art Bettge, who presents the awards, bid goodbye at the event, which he said was one of his favorites to participate in. He commended the commission for its work to help retain Moscow’s historic beauty and community feeling. 

The four winning projects exemplified a similar appreciation and stewardship of Moscow’s historic assets:

* “The lights have never gone out on the Kenworthy,” declared Colin Mannex, Kenworthy Performing Arts Center executive director, as he accepted an Orchid Award for renovation of the theater marquee. A $100,000 grant from the state and the work of architects specializing in historic preservation helped see the project to fruition, he said.

The center will celebrate its 100^th anniversary in 2026. Milburn Kenworthy bought the Crystal Theater Opera House and in 1926 opened Moscow’s first public theater.

* An intention to “spruce things up” became a “full-fledged renovation” of the Garden Lounge in the Moscow Hotel, said co-owner Carly Lilly. “Nothing about it spoke ‘garden.’ I wanted to make it beautiful, moody and botanical,” she said, making reference to 1970s “fern bars.”

* Homeowners Steven and Mary Shook downsized from their Moscow Mountain home to the historic Tomer house at 814 S. Harrison. George W. Tomer arrived in Moscow in 1871; Tomer Butte east of town is named for the pioneer family.

The house had been randomly remodeled many times since its 1889-1890 construction, and the Shooks sought to return it to a prosperous era of 1910-20: “Our builder Rex Lunsford took on our vision and made it a reality,” Steven Shook said.

* Builder and building rescuer Doug Wasankari first was asked to work on the 1907 Wylie Lauder house at 1320 S. Deakin Extension in 1982: “I was four years into this work, and I couldn’t figure out how to do it,” he said. When asked again in 1996, he knew more, put in a bid, but didn’t get the job. 

But last year, “I put in a number and got the job.” He thanked his crew – about half of whom were in the audience – for their work on the complicated project, which raised the second story so the concrete block foundation could be rebuilt while saving the unique concrete porch pillars. Lauder was a Moscow businessman and brick and concrete block manufacturer.

There is one vacancy on the Historic Preservation Commission. Find an application at https://www.ci.moscow.id.us/FormCenter/Commissions-26/Commission-Application-130