Skidaway Interpretive Cabin Earns AIA Merit Award
January 8, 2008
Savannah, GA (January 8, 2008) — The University of Georgia Marine Extension Service’s Skidaway Interpretive Cabin Project has been recognized by Savannah Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) with a “2007 Merit Award for Architectural Distinction.” The award was presented to Anne Lindsay Frick, public service assistant with the University of Georgia Marine Extension Service, in December 2007 for “recognition of her commitment to the design professions, craftsmanship, and pursuit of architectural excellence.”
UGA’s Marine Extension Service has completed two years of historic restoration and rehabilitation of the building and begun a third year of adaptive re-use of “The Quarters” duplex on Skidaway Island near Savannah. The wooden structure was built in the 1930s and served as housing for employees of the Roebling Family’s Modena Plantation. In 1967, Dorothy Ripling Roebling donated almost 800 acres of Roebling land along with existing buildings and docks to the State of Georgia. It was moved into the University System in the early 1970s for use as an oceanographic research center.
Today, The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia owns the acreage. The Skidaway Institute of Oceanography (SKIO) serves as caretaker of the land and the historic buildings still standing on the property, now known as the Skidaway Marine Science Campus. The Marine Extension Service has restored “The Quarters” building to its original state, in collaboration with the Roebling family, SKIO, and a dedicated team of local historic preservationists, architects, carpenters, graphic artists and educators.
The Marine Extension Service is an active partner on the Skidaway Marine Science Campus, fulfilling its public service mission of applied marine science research and education. Frick secured funds for the three-year restoration project through a Coastal Incentive Grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Coastal Management Program and leads the initiative to re-use it as a teaching space and public interpretive center.
The restored building will offer trailside educational opportunities to public visitors and student groups. Interior displays will provide information about the natural and human history of the adjacent Jay Wolfe Nature Trail, Modena Plantation, Skidaway Island, and highlight research and education work being done today on the Skidaway Marine Science Campus by its partner institutions. The Skidaway Interpretive Cabin Project will be completed in Fall 2008.