Organizations in Marion and Wabash have won Indiana Landmarks’ 2026 Sandi Servaas Memorial Awards, recognizing outstanding achievement in historic preservation.

Save Our Stories (SOS) won for its work to safeguard and raise awareness of Marion’s architecture and heritage, including the local legacy of Samuel Plato, one of Indiana’s first licensed Black architects.

Wabash High School’s Pathways to Career and Postsecondary (P-CAP) Class won for its student-led work to envision a new use for the community’s historic Sposeep Building in downtown Wabash.

As winner of the Servaas Award’s youth-serving category, the Wabash High School P-CAP Class receives $1,000, and organizational category winner Save Our Stories receives $2,000. Both groups will receive an original sculpture “No Doors to Lock Out the Past” by late Evansville artist John McNaughton.

Established in 1976, the Sandi Servaas Memorial Award honors the dynamic spirit and contributions of former Indiana Landmarks staffer Sandi Servaas, who championed public awareness and support for preservation before her death in 1975.

Save Our Stories (SOS) Marion

Founded in 2011 in response to disinvestment in downtown Marion, Save Our Stories (SOS) works to increase appreciation of the city’s architectural heritage while demonstrating how historic buildings can support community revitalization. In naming the organization, the all-volunteer group wanted to not only draw attention to local architecture but also the stories behind them.

A central focus of SOS’s work has been raising awareness of Samuel Plato, one of Indiana’s first licensed Black architects, who lived and practiced in Marion from 1902 to 1921. SOS held public tours showcasing his architecture and hosted a symposium on his legacy at the 1912 Wilson-Vaughan House Plato designed, today an events venue known as the Hostess House.

The group later expanded into preservation projects, beginning with a Plato-designed home at 917 S. Adams Street. Using grants and a loan from Indiana Landmarks, SOS stabilized the 1905 residence and carriage house and secured its listing in the National Register of Historic Places. Going forward, SOS will collaborate with Indiana Landmarks on additional repairs and identifying a restoration plan for the house.

SOS also acquired and remediated the former 1936 Firestone Auto Service Center through a combination of an Indiana Landmarks loan and Indiana Department of Environmental Management funding. The organization successfully nominated the building to the National Register of Historic Places and promoted redevelopment opportunities through tours and public events.

Through popular programs such as its Upstairs Downtown tours, public presentations on redevelopment projects, and its online platforms, including the Disappearing Marion Substack, SOS continues to engage residents in the role preservation can play in strengthening Marion’s future.

“Outstanding preservation is not just about saving structures. It’s about reintegrating them into community life,” said Sue Bratton, president of Save Our Stories. “By stabilizing, remediating and transitioning properties for reuse, we support neighborhood revitalization, economic development and sustainable land use, while our tours and educational programs transform preservation from a niche activity into a shared community value.”

Wabash High School P-CAP Class

In 2025, Wabash High School launched its Pathways to Career and Postsecondary (P-CAP) Class, an innovative program that challenged 17 freshmen to develop reuse concepts for the vacant 1890 Sposeep Building, a property included on Indiana Landmarks’ 10 Most Endangered list.

Students toured the building, documented its dimensions, studied its history and architecture, and met with Indiana Landmarks staff and Wabash Mayor Scott Long to better understand the building’s potential economic and community impact.

Using their research, students created scale models and floor plans proposing new uses for the property. During a public presentation attended by local real estate professionals, redevelopment officials, Indiana Landmarks staff, and community leaders, students presented concepts that ranged from an arcade and event venue to a physical therapy and mental health center.

The project integrated math, engineering, science, trades, history, and English while introducing students to the value of historic preservation and community development. The students’ work generated renewed public interest in the threatened building and demonstrated how preservation can serve as a catalyst for local engagement.

“This project took a building these students had probably driven by hundreds of times and gave it a new level of importance to them,” says Justin Denney, Wabash High School Math Department chair, who helped develop and oversee the program. “It taught them people really care about these buildings and that they have a story, and maybe because of that they notice other buildings and have questions about them. It opened the door to a way of thinking that this isn’t a pile of bricks, it’s history to them.”

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About Indiana Landmarks

Indiana Landmarks revitalizes communities, strengthens connections to our diverse heritage, and saves meaningful places. With nine offices located throughout the state, Indiana Landmarks helps people rescue endangered landmarks and restore historic neighborhoods and downtowns. People who join Indiana Landmarks receive its bimonthly magazine, Indiana Preservation. For more information on the not-for-profit organization, call 317-639-4534, 800-450-4534, or visit www.indianalandmarks.org.

Media contact:

Mindi Woolman, Indiana Landmarks, 317-639-4534, mwoolman@indianalandmarks.org