Community members enter the newly renovated Shepherdstown Opera House this spring. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — On Saturday, the Shepherdstown Opera House was given the 2023 Heritage Tourism Award by the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia (PAWV).

“Each year, the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia solicits public nominations and votes on award winners that represent the most outstanding and exemplary historic preservation projects around the Mountain State,” said PAWV Executive Director Danielle Parker, mentioning the organization’s preservationists and board of directors then determine from those nominations the award winners.

According to Shepherdstown Opera House co-owner Harriet Pearson, Shepherdstown resident Greg Coble nominated the Pearsons for this statewide award.

“The Shepherdstown Opera House has once again become a center for the arts and community in our region,” the Pearsons jointly said, in response to the nomination. “We’re grateful to Greg Coble for nominating us for this recognition and are excited to welcome audiences and performers from near and far to the Opera House.”

Shepherdstown Opera House’s owners, Steve and Harriet Pearson, accepted the award at PAWV’s annual awards banquet at the Clingman Center for Community Engagement in Lewisburg. The Shepherdstown Opera House was selected to receive the 2023 Heritage Tourism Award, due to the extensive restoration and renovation done to the historic building since it was flooded on May 16, 2018. The Pearsons painstakingly completed renovations, with consideration to the building’s history, through the beginning of this year. The Shepherdstown Opera House officially re-opened to the public on March 4.

The Shepherdstown Opera House received the 2023 Heritage Tourism Award from the Preservation Alliance of West Virgina on Saturday. Courtesy photo

“The Shepherdstown Opera House has undergone numerous modifications in its 113-year history. A flood from burst pipes just after the new owners purchased the building uncovered serious structural flaws. Despite all of that, the end result, after significant investment and determination by Steve and Harriet Pearson, is an intimate opera house born out of the golden age of opera houses in the U.S., but with a technologically advanced 21st century theater infrastructure,” Parker said. “The programming that the Pearsons have already lined up for the first year of the opera house’s renewal will enhance Shepherdstown’s standing as a heritage destination in the Mid-Atlantic region.”

Outside of the opera house, 13 other awards were presented on Saturday: the Michael Gioulis Downtown Preservation Award was given to Charles Town Now, of Charles Town; the Community Preservation Award was given to the Morgantown Historic Landmarks Commission & Main Street Morgantown; the Best Use of Historic Tax Credits Award was given to Lloyd & Denise Scalph, of Fayetteville, for preserving and repurposing an Old Esso Station; the Volunteer Award was given to Randy Weaver, of Arthurdale, for his 40 years of preservation work with Arthurdale Heritage, Inc.; the Historic Landscape Restoration Award was given to Sharon Workman, of Bramwell, for her 15 years of volunteer work at Oak Hill Cemetery; the Archaeology Award was given to Summers County Historic Landmarks Commission for their Frontier Forts project; the AmeriCorps Award was given to Kathleen Thompson, of Fairmont, for the work she did in her three consecutive terms with Preserve WV AmeriCorps; the Most Significant Save of an Endangered Property Award was given to The Friends of the Blue Committee for the Blue Sulphur Springs Pavilion Restoration Project, of Alderson; the Rodney Collins Preservation Achievement Award was given to Clifford Gillilan, of Lewisburg, for his work in historic building restoration; the Bob Weir Craftsperson Award was given to Joshua Adamo, of Adamo Building Arts, in Lewisburg; the Dr. Emory Kemp Lifetime Achievement Award was given to engineer Carol Stevens, of Alum Creek, who helped restore the Capitol Dome and renovate the West Virginia Governor’s Mansion; and two $1,000 Preservation Persistence Awards were given to Rebecca and Jesse Juarez for the Bowers Mansion, in Mannington, and Arthurdale Heritage, Inc. for the Arthurdale School Buildings, in Arthurdale.

PAWV is the nonprofit organization dedicated to historic preservation in the Mountain State. It also administers the West Virginia Saving Historic Places Grant and the Preserve WV AmeriCorps National Service Initiative. For more information, visit www.pawv.org.