Good friends and like-minded community activists Philippe Jordi, of West Tisbury and Derrill Bazzy of Aquinnah, have each been named to receive Kuehn Awards from the Community Preservation Coalition. Though nominated independently, they will be honored simultaneously for their use of the Community Preservation Act to enrich and preserve their respective communities.
Named after Bob Kuehn, one of the primary forces behind the creation of Massachusetts’s Community Preservation Act (CPA), and someone who also cared deeply about Martha’s Vineyard, the Robert Kuehn Award is given to individuals who embody the spirit of the Act by turning ideas into action. Jordi is executive director of the Island Housing Trust, a community land trust and community development corporation that has helped provide hope and opportunity to hundreds of island residents seeking a dignified solution to their affordable needs over the past eight years. Bazzy, a designer with South Mountain Co., has been chair of Aquinnah’s Community Preservation Committee since its inception eleven years ago. He has been an active participant in generating and designing affordable housing Island-wide, and is the former chair of the Aquinnah Affordable Housing Committee. Bazzy also co-chaired the committee that oversaw the historic restoration of the Vanderhoop Homestead overlooking the clay cliffs of Aquinnah.
Currently, the town of Aquinnah has been challenged by the need to relocate its historic and iconic Gay Head Lighthouse. Bazzy has led a groundbreaking effort to reach out to the other five island towns for CPA funds to augment that project’s budget, which surpasses three quarters of Aquinnah’s annual town budget. Both men’s quiet and dignified visionary leadership, grounded in building consensus, is a fitting testimony to the memory of Bob Kuehn and the vital contributions the Community Preservation Act has made to the maintenance of our unique locales. The awards ceremony will take place at the State House in Boston on January 14.
Background
The Gay Head Lighthouse, a Martha’s Vineyard treasure and one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places of 2013, currently sits 46 feet (Aug 2013) from an eroding cliff and geological experts recommend it should be moved in the next year or so or the area around it may not be stable enough to safely do so. The Save the Gay Head Lighthouse Committee is working to save this iconic structure, and working navigational beacon, which has stood at the picturesque cliffs of the western most tip of the island since 1799 and was replaced with the current brick lighthouse in 1854. The committee’s objective is to move and restore the Gay Head Lighthouse to a location which will sustain it for many generations. The fundraising goal to cover these costs is $3 million. For more information or to make a donation, visit http://gayheadlight.org/.
Press Contact: Maura FitzGerald
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