OIL CITY, Pa. — The Oil Region Alliance is accepting nominations for its 2019 Oil Heritage Region Historic Preservation Awards.

The Oil Heritage Region Historic Preservation Awards program recognizes appropriate preservation, restoration, and rehabilitation projects, individuals and groups committed to historic preservation. It creates an advocacy for historic preservation and enhances a regional historic preservation ethic within the Oil Region National Heritage Area.

The region includes all of Venango County, the Borough of Hydetown, the City of Titusville and Oil Creek Township in Crawford County.

Any person or group may submit a nomination for a Historic Preservation Award. Eligible structures must be within the Oil Heritage Region and at least 50 years old. Interior work in public buildings and/or exterior work are eligible. Once an individual or project has received an award, it is not eligible again for another five years.

Nomination forms are available from the sponsors listed below, at regional libraries, and at www.oilregion.org. Please submit digital “Before & After” photographs to jburden@oilregion.org with each nomination. Photographs help illustrate the nature and impact of the project work. Photos will be shown during the awards ceremony and in the ceremony program booklet. Up to ten photos of the nominated project may be submitted.

Nominations must be submitted by Friday, March 29 to Jenn Burden, Historian-Educator at the Oil Region Alliance of Business, Industry & Tourism at 217 Elm St., Oil City, PA 16301.

Winners will be announced in April and the awards ceremony will occur May 16 at the First Baptist Church in Franklin. Details to follow.

Sponsors of the Historic Preservation Awards are the Crawford County Historical Society, Franklin Preservation Association, Friends of Drake Well, Inc., Heritage Society of Oil City, Oil City Main Street Program, Oil Region Alliance, Titusville Historical Society, Titusville Renaissance, Inc., Venango County Historical Society, and the Venango Museum of Art, Science & Industry.

The program has presented more than 150 awards since 1997. All previous winners are listed at https://nha.lr-dev.com under the Historic Preservation Awards menu.