ONTARIO CELEBRATES PRESERVATION MONTH 2011

A CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

The City of Ontario invites you to help us celebrate Preservation Month 2011 in May. National Preservation Month serves as a showcase for our country’s diverse heritage and has been celebrated for over thirty years. Our commemoration of Ontario’s unique heritage is part of a larger celebration.  Thousands of state and local community groups will honor their distinct histories with events that bring historic preservation to the forefront of Americans’ daily lives by emphasizing the vital importance of protecting our nation’s past. In Ontario and elsewhere, historic preservation is one tool for managing growth, revitalizing neighborhoods, fostering local pride, and maintaining community character while enhancing livability.

Since 2001, the Ontario City Council has annually presented Model Colony Awards to individuals, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and to local agencies that have made significant contributions to the preservation, rehabilitation, and restoration of architectural and cultural heritage within the community.

Anyone can nominate an individual, organization, agency or business for a Model Colony Award and are encouraged to do so. To find out about nomination forms, award categories, and property eligibility, please contact Diane Ayala, Associate Planner, at (909) 395-2428.  Nomination forms are available at the Planning Department located in City Hall Annex or you can download the Model Colony Awards Brochure. To be considered for the 2011 Awards, nominations must be received prior to March 15, 2011.

To learn more about the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the month-long schedule of activities going on nationwide, visit www.nationaltrust.org

HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROGRAM

Ontario’s award winning Historic Preservation Program is administered by the Advanced Planning Division. The program seeks to preserve & protect the significant architectural, historical, & cultural resources, which reflect Ontario’s unique character & heritage.

Founded by George and W.B. Chaffey in 1882, Ontario was envisioned to be a Model Irrigation Colony. In 1903, Ontario officially became “The Model Colony” through an Act of Congress and a model presented at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904.

The preservation of our historic places ensures that the rich heritage, tradition & character of “The Model Colony,” molded over more than a century, will proudly live on.