Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • May 16, 2012 Area The 2012 Historic Preservation Commendation Awards were presented last week at a ceremony held at the Bergen County Justice Center in Hackensack. Commendations were awarded in multiple categories. The Tate House, located at 292 West Street in Closter received honors in the restoration category. This 1913 Colonial Revival-style house is located in Closter’s West Street Historic District. The Ackerman-Cantrell House at 131 West End Avenue in Ridgewood was recognized in the restoration/renovation category for the recreation of the original wraparound porch. This is a mid-19th century Italianate house. The award in the continuing preservation and use project category went to the Hollister-Cropsey House at 168 Chestnut Street in Rutherford for the restoration and continuing preservation and use of the 1885-1890 Queen Anne-style house. The Demarest Railroad Depot received the award for the adaptive use preservation project. The depot is an 1872 building that was designed by J. Cleveland Cade. The preservation education award went to the Pascack Historical Society for the group’s preservation of historical photographs project. That effort involved printing historical photos from glass plate negatives, and a subsequent public exhibit of the photographs. The South Bergenite in Rutherford was recognized for its coverage of south Bergen County’s preservation issues. The Upper Saddle River Historic Preservation Commission was honored for its local preservation education projects. Ellie Hart of Allendale was honored for her Girl Scout Historic Preservation Commendation Awards presented preservation project, which involved digitizing “Allendale: A Background of a Borough,” a 428-page book by Patricia Webb Wardell that was published in 1994 and is currently out of print. Daniel J. Reinke of Demarest earned honors for his Eagle Scout project, which involved the creation of a walkway at Sautjes Tave’s Begraven Ground and the restoration of that cemetery. The theme for 2012 National Preservation Month (May) is “Discover America’s Hidden Gems.” Started in 1971, this annual national celebration is sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and provides an opportunity to celebrate the diverse and unique heritage of the country’s cities and states. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to protecting the irreplaceable. Recipient of the National Humanities Medal, the trust was founded in 1949 and provides leadership, education, advocacy, and resources to save America’s diverse historic places and revitalize communities. This year’s award ceremony was held at the Bergen County Justice Center to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Bergen County Courthouse. Designed by James Riely Gordon and completed in 1912, this National Register Beaux Art style building with a dome modeled on the U.S. Capitol, is important to the history of Bergen County. It is the county’s sixth courthouse; the first was built in 1715 near the current courthouse. On May 4, members of the Mahwah Police Department arrested a 29-year-old woman from Flushing, New York for engaging in prostitution at a Mahwah hotel. The arrest was the culmination of an investigation by the Mahwah Police Investigative Bureau in its efforts and cooperation with township hotels to monitor and deter prostitution and other illegal activities. Detectives were made aware of potential prostitution activity by monitoring the Internet and initiated an investigation into a female who was staying in a Mahwah hotel. Detectives observed suspicious activity and arranged with the female for an undercover detective to meet for an appointment with the Township police announce prostitution arrests after working with local hotels Flushing woman in her hotel room. After the woman offered sexual activity in exchange for money with the undercover detective, she was arrested without incident. She was charged and later released. A similar investigation led to the Mahwah Police Investigative Division’s May 2 arrest. In that incident, a 33-year-old Newark woman was charged with engaging in prostitution with an undercover detective. The woman was conducting this activity out of her hotel room in the township. The police also seized for civil forfeiture $1,250 as proceeds from criminal activity. The woman was charged and later released.