AND THE WINNERS ARE. .

Two Harris County residents received awards from the Texas Historical Commission at its Historic Preservation Conference, which was in mid-April. Al Davis, of the Harris County Historical Commission, received the Ruth Lester Lifetime Achievement Award. The Commission’s Award of Excellence in Historic Architecture went to Bailey Architects of Houston. 

Also, Sarah Metzger of Pasadena is a winner of a Texas Environmental Excellence Award from the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality. Twelve awards are given to innovative projects that demonstrate positive effects on air, water, and land resources. The awards were presented Tuesday.

In announcing the award, TCEQ said, “Engineering coordinator for the Pasadena Public Works Department, Sarah Metzger goes above and beyond the scope of her job duties by working tirelessly to promote environmental stewardship in her community. She guides field trips and gives presentations on the importance of preserving the ecosystem using materials—outreach brochures, pamphlets and videos—that she creates. She began an Adopt-A-Waterway program to give citizens a sense of ownership as they work to improve water quality, and she wrote the Construction Alliance Handbook, a pollution-prevention publication for builders in the Galveston Bay area. In the spring of 2006, she organized the city’s first environmental fair.”

For information about the other winners and to submit an application for next year’s awards, visit .

The Rice Design Alliance is making grants to three student projects through its Initiatives for Houston program. The program supports projects that focus on Houston’s built environment, its history, present condition, and future development. Proposals were evaluated in terms of their potential for making a significant contribution to our understanding of the city.

The winning projects are:

“An Unhurried Tour of Houston’ s Alternative Market Places,” a proposal from University of Houston students LaFayette Childs, II and Marianne Do. The students will examine and analyze swap meets, flea markets, farmers markets, mercados, and bazaars to seek to understand the venues they use or reuse, learn about their impact on their surrounding communities, and propose ways that the spaces they occupy might be improved;

“Grow Local: Plotting a New Urban-Rural Interface in Houston,” a proposal by Rice University student Jonathan LaRocca. LaRocca views food production, distribution, and consumption as an opportunity for architectural invention for real problems. He plans to explore contemporary possibilities of urban agriculture in the U.S. by examining active urban-farming and community-garden movements in Houston. LaRocca will then explore the feasibility of expanded urban and peri-urban food growing in Houston as a potential strategy for achieving sustainable growth; and

“Exposing the Fifth: Alternatives for Houston ‘s Lost Elevation,” a proposal by Rice University student Heather Rowell. Rowell suggests that the concrete dead zones of roof levels of parking garages can be re-evaluated for programs such as park developments or art installations. She suggests that such urban initiatives could foster a new downtown identity for Houston.

Congratulations to all.