About the Awards

The A.K. Sculthorpe Award for Advocacy

This award recognizes an individual, a group or a non-profit organization that has brought greater attention to an important heritage issue or controversy, and/or that has been able to persuade others, change policies and practices, or mobilize people during a heritage crisis.

This award honours Alice King Sculthorpe, a former ACO president, beloved for her spirited and steadfast will to preserve our valuable heritage. AK was a formidable campaigner for Port Hope’s wealth of historic architecture. She led the fight to save—among other key sites—the 1856 Grand Trunk Railway station, the 1930 Capitol Theatre, St. Mark’s 1822 Church, and Walton Street, Port Hope’s main street and the spine of its commercial heritage conservation district.

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The Peter Stokes Restoration Award

This award recognizes the exemplary restoration of a heritage structure or important architectural feature undertaken in accordance with recognized best practice and policies for conservation in Ontario.

It honours the ACO’s pioneering restoration architect, Peter John Stokes, best known for bringing international standards of heritage conservation to Ontario and eastern Canada. All his projects—including his writing, lectures, and volunteer activities—attest to the premium he placed on saving historic buildings, no matter how challenging the work. Stokes began his career in 1958 as the restoration architect for Upper Canada Village, where he stayed until 1961. Subsequently he became known first for the restoration work he did in his adopted hometown of Niagara-on-the-Lake, and then throughout Ontario for such projects as Sandyford Place in Hamilton, Victoria Hall in Cobourg, and the Grange in Toronto.

Peter’s career coincided with the pioneering era of architectural conservation in the province. When the Ontario Heritage Act first passed in 1975, countless communities called on him for his much-needed expertise, his valuable advice in the face of crises, and his unwavering commitment to authenticity, at a time when few people understood the true value of preservation. He enlightened many a community as to the value of its own heritage. For his many contributions to Ontario’s heritage, Peter was the recipient of ACO’s very first Eric Arthur Lifetime Achievement Award.

This award is given in two categories:

Large-Scale/Team/Corporate: This award is given to an architectural firm, large project team, or corporate owner of a large-scale restoration project.

Small-Scale/ Individual/Small Business: This award is given to an individual, small project team or small business owner of a small-scale restoration project.

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The Carlos Ventin Award for Municipal Heritage Leadership

This award (sponsored by +VG Architects) recognizes elected municipal leaders, municipal staff and appointed representatives who have championed the rehabilitation and/or adaptive reuse of public heritage buildings in their community. These buildings may include libraries, town halls, city halls, community centres, theatres, schools, and other civic spaces. Communities of all sizes that have demonstrated a commitment to reviving their heritage structures are eligible for this award.

The award honours architect Carlos Ventin, a pioneer in saving historic buildings in Ontario for adaptive re-use. In 1972, before the practice of saving old buildings was widely accepted, Carlos convinced the Town of Simcoe to save the historic Simcoe Courthouse to accommodate the new Municipal Offices and Library. The award-winning project gained wide attention from preservationists and led to the firm doing more than 100 similar projects across Ontario for community buildings (many receiving heritage and design awards) in cities such as Windsor, Toronto, London, Milton, Napanee, Kingston, Brockville, Orangeville and Lindsay.

The Stephen A. Otto Award for Research and Documentation

This award recognizes an individual or group for exemplary and scholarly work in the research and documentation of Ontario’s built heritage and cultural landscapes, as well as the broad distribution of this knowledge to ensure that it is shared widely and for the benefit of all.

It was created in 2019 to honour Stephen Otto, a longtime member of ACO and one of Ontario’s strongest advocates for heritage conservation, who died in April 2018. Otto is warmly remembered for his tireless work and numerous accomplishments, and his devotion to preserving Ontario’s heritage will continue to bolster our work for many years to come.

Steve was head of Heritage Conservation Services at Ontario’s Ministry of Culture and Recreation, and administered the newly enacted Ontario Heritage Act between 1975 and 1981. His early work in the 1970s and 1980s at the Ministry and at the Ontario Heritage Trust established a spirit of sharing among those interested in Ontario’s history. His accomplishments are numerous. First there were his updates on Eric Arthur’s landmark Toronto – No Mean City. Then his Once More Into the Breach that chronicled Fort York’s long history of trials and tribulations, then his participation in the award-winning urban design proposal Fort York – Setting it Right, both of which gained Toronto City Council’s attention, and contributed to the success and achievements of the Friends of Fort York, a group of volunteers Steve helped found, provided continuing leadership to, and funds for the Fort York Guard. When he died, he was nearing completion of a book on Ontario architecture, planned for publication by University of Toronto Press.

Well beyond Fort York, Steve influenced the development and preservation of numerous heritage buildings and neighbourhoods including Toronto’s Distillery District, Spadina House, and Todmorden Mills, and he advised on and participated in successful efforts to return the site of Upper Canada’s first parliament buildings to public ownership.

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Eric Arthur Lifetime Achievement Award

The Eric Arthur Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an individual or a group who have made an outstanding contribution to the heritage conservation movement in Ontario over a sustained period of time. The state of the Province’s built heritage today would not be the same without the significant activities of this person.

The award honours ACO’s founder, Eric Ross Arthur, who initiated and inspired the preservation movement in Ontario with his visionary leadership and professional expertise. Born in Dunedin, New Zealand, in 1898, Eric Arthur graduated in 1921 with a master’s degree from the School of Architecture in Liverpool, England, whose curriculum was still modelled after the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He worked briefly for the firm of Sir Edwin Lutyens before moving to Canada in 1923 to begin his teaching career at the University of Toronto. Here, Eric Arthur came into his own as an inspiring professor, respected architect, noted author, and preservation activist.

Among many achievements, Eric Arthur led the charge to save Toronto’s St. Lawrence Hall and the Gooderham flatiron building, established a student program of measured drawings that became an invaluable record of the province’s finest architecture, and together with others, founded ACO in 1933. One of his strongest passions was Ontario’s early vernacular architecture, which eventually led to the Conservancy’s purchase in 1939 of the 1817 Barnum House in Grafton. Today, the restored Barnum House is a museum owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust; it also serves as the ACO’s defining logo. In 1964, Eric Arthur expressed the pride he had in his adopted city through his book, Toronto, No Mean City, a seminal work which was expanded and revised by Stephen Otto in 1986.

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