Some 100 preservationists and their supporters attended the presentation ceremony in the well-appointed and rehabilitated Victorian home of landscape architects Michael Mushak and David Westpmoreland at 50 Elmwood Ave. in the Golden Hill section of South Norwalk which commands a panoramic view of Long Island Sound.

“This is a spectacular turnout today in support of preservation in Norwalk,” Tod Bryant, Norwalk Preservation Trust president, said at the outset. “In the rehabilitation of South Norwalk, this city turned a corner and became a more vital city. Norwalk stopped thinking of itself as a failed industrial city and started thinking of itself as something else. It was an extraordinary achievement against extraordinary odds. And 30 years later, we are honored to be able to recognize a few of the principals in that effort.”Former Mayor Collins, who orchestrated the revitalization, called it “the most exciting highlight” of his political career and in hindsight a “very enjoyable experience.” He noted that very few would set foot in South Norwalk in 1977, but now only a few are of that opinion today.

Former Councilwoman Lichtenstein recalled how critical some were of the effort. She said the preservationists were so sensitive to that pressure that one day when development coordinator Sheilah Thorne Smith of Greenwich fell and broke her arm in one of “The Six” buildings on South Main Street, she was whisked to Greenwich Hospital so no one in Norwalk would hear about it.

Johnson, NRA director from 1978 to 1984, a Yale university architectural graduate who was sympathetic to preservation, had succeeded a director whose sentiment was not so inclined, and his daily presence in the agency made so much easier for the preservationists and various city agencies to mesh.

“I’m very pleased with the results,” he said.

Shanahan remembered being a daily resource for city officials and the NPT.

“A series of studies on preservation nationwide showed that one woman was always the catalyst in determining the outcomes of preservation efforts, and in this case it was a group of women led by Valle Fay and Mimi Findlay working with Mayor Collins.”

The late Mr. Collins, who died in 2005, was represented by the younger of his two sons, Dwight Collins of Darien. “If my Dad were here today, he would probably say: It wasn’t the largest project he ever did, but it was definitely the most difficult and the most rewarding.” (The son said afterward that the project didn’t bring his father’s business much remuneration, but it did establish a reputation for his firm that has augured well for future contracts, one completed in Norfolk, and one in progress in Yonkers, N.Y.)

Findlay, a former president of the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation and a national trust officer, was unable to be present due to the college graduation of grandson in North Carolina. She was cited for her continued interest in the SoNo revitalization long after giving her alert and, in addition, her continued work in the preservation and maintenance of Lockwood Mathews Mansion Museum.

Bryant noted that the SoNo project received a national preservation award in 1988 which former Mayor Frank J. Esposito received in a White House ceremony. However, the plaque has never been shown in this city.

State Sen. Robert Duff, D-25, read a proclamation naming the Week of May 20 as Norwalk Preservation Week in Connecticut. State Reps. Christopher Perone, D-137, and State Rep. Toni Boucher, R-143, also spoke briefly.

source: The Hour, Pioneers in city preservation honored at leadership awards ceremony, By FRANCIS X. FAY, Jr, May 20, 2007