Washington College Teams Up with Other Kent County Organizations to Produce Award-Winning Cultural Landscape Assessment Report

The Preliminary Cultural Landscape Assessment Report that Washington College helped produce was recently awarded the Smart Growth Excellence Award by Preservation Maryland, as part of this year’s Best of Maryland awards.

The Preliminary Cultural Landscape Assessment Report was recently awarded the Smart Growth Excellence Award by Preservation Maryland, as part of this year’s Best of Maryland awards.  Washington College’s own Dr. John Seidel, Director of the Center for Environment & Society and Luis Machado, GIS Development Director, were part of the team that produced the important report and were among the recipients honored by Preservation Maryland.

Kent County, Maryland’s picturesque historic and natural resources were the subject of this model report, which confirmed the unique and unparalleled opportunities for preservation in this Eastern Shore county.

In recognition of the inspired and innovative undertaking, the Preliminary Cultural Landscape Assessment of Kent County, Maryland, was presented with the Smart Growth Excellence Award from Preservation Maryland and Smart Growth Maryland.  

Kent Conservation and Preservation Alliance undertook the Kent County Cultural Landscape Assessment to document the significance of the existing conditions in Kent County. The survey work was carried out by the full project team, in order to evaluate and document both the history and the integrity of the landscape. The full report can be accessed here.

"One of the things that truly sets apart our place - Kent County - is its remarkable natural and cultural landscape,” said Jon Seidel. “Viewed carefully, it tells a complex story of the human past, with resources we should take pride in and treasure for the future. Washington College was delighted to help in preparing this unique study and to help bring into focus the amazing place in which we live."

The full project team is comprised of the Kent Conservation & Preservation Alliance, Barton Ross & Associates, McGinnis Landscape (now Kennon Williams Landscape Studio), Heritage Strategies, and the Washington College Center for Environment & Society.

A dozen awardees were honored as this year’s “Best of Maryland”, and awards were presented during socially distant ceremonies at various sites across the state.

The public is invited to learn more about each award and to help us honor them by attending a special event at Bengies Drive-In Movie Theater in Middle River, Maryland on Thursday, October 1, 2020. The awards event will be followed by a screening of the 1980s classic, “The Money Pit” as a nod to the challenging and sometimes humorous nature of saving old buildings. Tickets are on sale now on Preservation Maryland’s website, www.presmd.org. All are welcome and proceeds support the nonprofit organization.