Professor Emeritus Kettlewell honored for preservation work
The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation has announced that James Kettlewell,
Skidmore professor emeritus of art history, will receive a Spirit of Preservation
Award at the foundation?s seventh annual awards presentation on May 8. The other award
recipient this year will be the New York Racing Association.
Each year the Preservation Foundation recognizes individuals or organizations that
have contributed to the overall quality of life in Saratoga Springs through their
hard work and dedication to the ideals of historic preservation.
Kettlewell, author of Saratoga Springs: An Architectural History, is being honored for his lifetime contributions to the foundation and his work to
promote the preservation of the city?s rich architectural history.
An activist as well as historian of art and architecture, Kettlewell was among those
who helped save a number of local buildings in the 1960s. He was a key figure on the
mayor?s Committee on Historic Buildings, which established guidelines for restoring
the Canfield Casino. He was also instrumental in the successful effort in 1973 to
place the Franklin Square Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places.
Kettlewell, who taught at Skidmore from 1957 to 1997, was curator of the Hyde Collection
in Glens Falls, N.Y., from 1965 to 1983. He continues to be sought after by community
and campus groups as a lecturer and tour guide.
The New York Racing Association is being recognized for its stewardship of the Saratoga
Race Course. Said the Preservation Foundation in a news release, ?Since 1955, NYRA
has retained the historic integrity of the track through maintenance of over 200 structures
and landscapes, as well as honored the character of the race course when making upgrades
and changes.?
The May 8 awards presentation will take place at the Saratoga Automobile Museum,
beginning at 6 p.m. For more information contact Marjorie King Martin, programs director,
Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation, 518-587-5030, mking@saratogapreservation.org,
or visit the foundation?s web site at www.saratogapreservation.org.
