A 10-year citizens' fight to stave off development in Rocklin's Clover Valley and an in-depth guide to 400 vintage structures in Woodland were honored Friday with a state preservation awards.
California State Parks' Office of Historic Preservation gave its Governor's Historic Preservation Awards to 11 groups statewide. The annual awards, given since 1986, recognize community involvement and a wide scope of efforts, including building rehabilitation and archaeology.
Woodland city employees drew on historical resources to compile the "Explore Historic Woodland Guidebook," which includes details about families who once resided in the town's old homes. The book is a companion piece to the annual "Stroll through History," where visitors take a historic walking tour of historic neighborhoods.
In Rocklin, volunteers with the Save Clover Valley Organization made a 45-minute documentary film and created a Web site in an effort to defeat a plan to build 558 homes in the 622- acre valley.
The plan threatened wildlife and Indian historical sites and would exacerbate traffic and air pollution, opponents had argued. An Indian tribe stepped in to purchase and preserve some of the property in August, increasing open space to 406 acres from 366.
The other projects recognized:
• The Antioch Historical Society and Museum for preserving the Riverview Union High School building.
• The Historical Society of the Upper Mojave Desert for restoring a WWII USO building in Kern County.
• Several city and library groups in San Francisco for the rehabilitation of the Noe Valley Carnegie Library.
• Los Encinos State Historic Park for restoring a wall in a historic adobe that had been hand-painted by craftsmen so that it looked like marble.
• San Diego State University for restoring a Work Projects Administration mural.
• City of Los Angeles for creating 22 historical districts with neighborhood councils that lead rehabilitation plans.
• City of Fresno for undertaking a plan to rehabilitate Hotel Fresno, making the privately owned property more attractive to private development.
• Mount Washington Homeowners Alliance for compiling stories from the past about a small hillside community in Los Angeles County.
• San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, National Park Service for the rehabilitation of the C.A. Thayer, a schooner used to haul lumber between the Bay Area and Humboldt.
Call The Bee's M.S. Enkoji, (916) 321-1106.
