The city of Phoenix will accept two of the 10 Governor’s Heritage Preservation Honor Awards at a special ceremony 5:30 p.m. Thursday, June 14, at the Elks Opera House, 117 E. Gurley St., Prescott.

The two awards are for the Phoenix Union High School Exterior Rehabilitation for the University of Arizona College of Medicine and the Post World War II Commercial Historic Building Photography Project.

The awards, presented by the Arizona Preservation Foundation and Arizona State Historic Preservation Office/Arizona State Parks, are to promote public awareness and recognize various groups and organizations that promote the goals of historic preservation in Arizona.

“The preservation and rebirth of the city’s first high school have given three of the city’s most important historic buildings a future, and allowed them to play an exciting new role in education for the 21st century,” said Mayor Phil Gordon.

Three vacant historic buildings on the Phoenix Union High School campus were saved from the wrecking ball by the city and are now the centerpiece of a modern medical campus for the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix. The Domestic Arts and Sciences Building, Auditorium and Science Hall were transformed in 18 months with new interior state-of-the-art facilities while preserving key historic features such as wood floors, coffered ceilings, display cases and grand staircases in the auditorium.

More than 200 wood windows were replicated in the three buildings based on historic photographs and their historic exteriors were restored to original condition. The historic flagpole and World War I Memorial Sundial in front of the auditorium also were restored. The result has been to save three significant historic buildings and provide a University of Arizona medical presence on the biomedical campus in downtown Phoenix. This project was a partnership between the city of Phoenix, Arizona Board of Regents and University of Arizona College of Medicine.

“The documentation of the city’s post World War II architecture is significant since it helps raise awareness about key landmarks built during Phoenix’s phenomenal growth in the 1950s and 1960s,” said Barbara Stocklin, Phoenix Historic Preservation officer.

Phoenix photographer and artist Michael Lundgren was commissioned by the city to create a photographic portfolio of important post World War II commercial historic buildings in Phoenix.

The photos will be on display at the city’s Burton Barr Central Library for one month beginning Aug. 3 and will be exhibited in city buildings as part of the city’s permanent Municipal Art Collection.

Some of the locations include the Federal Building, 230 N. First Ave.; Courtesy Chevrolet sign, 1233 E. Camelback Road; Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum, 1326 W. McDowell Road; Celebrity Theater, 440 N. 32nd St.; and Phoenix Towers, 2201 N. Central Ave. The project was a collaboration between the city’s Office of Historic Preservation and the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture Public Art Program.