Griffin Awards honor Asheville, Buncombe County preservation projects

The 46th Griffin Awards brought Asheville and Buncombe County preservation work into focus at Ella Asheville in the Broadway Arts Building, where The Preservation Society of Asheville & Buncombe County recognized projects and people shaping the county’s historic fabric. Tickets for the May 21 ceremony were priced at $50 for PSABC members and $60 for non-members, underscoring the event’s role as both a fundraiser and a civic showcase for local preservation.

PSABC said the awards honor outstanding preservation projects and individuals across Asheville and Buncombe County, with nominations open to any person, company or organization interested in historic preservation. The categories point to the different ways preservation can affect daily life and the local economy: adaptive re-use, in-fill construction within a historic district or neighborhood, preservation, rehabilitation, research, publication and education, restoration and stewardship. That breadth matters in a county where preservation is not only about saving old buildings, but also about deciding how neighborhoods absorb growth.

At the center of the awards is a practical standard. PSABC says successful projects retain historic materials and character-defining features such as windows, flooring and woodwork. That approach can keep downtown blocks visually connected to Asheville’s past while allowing new uses inside older structures, a balance that has long shaped commercial corridors, housing conversations and tourism-driven redevelopment. In a city where heritage helps define place, the difference between reuse and replacement can shape how a street feels for decades.

The stakes are even higher as Buncombe County continues recovering from Hurricane Helene. PSABC says preservation matters more than ever in that work, where damaged buildings, rebuilding pressure and rising demand for new space can all collide. The county’s preservation debates are not abstract. They determine whether historic homes, storefronts and civic landmarks are repaired, adapted or lost to faster development.

Asheville’s Historic Resources Commission remains a key local player in that effort. The city describes the commission as a municipal historic preservation agency charged with preserving and protecting the cultural and architectural character of Asheville and Buncombe County, and as a Certified Local Government approved to carry out the National Historic Preservation Act at the local level. That gives the city a formal role in guarding places that help define local memory.

PSABC’s preservation work also has deep roots. In 1977, the group established Heritage Week, built around a house tour, the Griffin Awards luncheon, and a Preservation Ball and auction. Nearly half a century later, the awards continue to frame a question that matters to Buncombe County’s future: how to grow without erasing the buildings, materials and stories that make Asheville feel like Asheville.