The Santa Monica Mirror has been awarded the Conservancy's first annual Preservation Award for the newspaper's ongoing series of articles on both famous and little-known Santa Monica historic sites.

The award was presented to Santa Monica Mirror Publisher Michael Rosenthal at the Conservancy's annual membership gathering on Sunday, May 8, 2004.

"You have given the city a great gift by producing this series which raises awareness to preserve our rich cultural heritage," Santa Monica Conservancy President Tom Cleys said in announcing the award.

"The series is an exemplary effort to familiarize our community with its rich architectural heritage. Not only were we introduced to buildings, but you included unexpected cultural landmarks, fairly unknown to the public," Cleys said, citing the Moreton Bay Fig Tree at the Miramar Hotel and the Marquez Cemetery in Santa Monica Canyon.

"It is with great pleasure that the Santa Monica Conservancy has chosen the Santa Monica Mirror to be the recipient of our first annual Preservation Award for its series of articles entitled Landmarks & Treasures," Cleys said. "These finely crafted articles, researched by your staff and illustrated with photographs, are a significant contribution to archiving Santa Monica history. We look forward to this creative documentation being preserved in book form."

The award presentation took place during the annual membership meeting, held this year at the Georgian Hotel at 1:30 P.M., May 8th. The event included a narrated photo presentation of Santa Monica in the 1920s as well as board of directors’ elections, a state of local preservation report and refreshments.