VONN MARIE MAY
COMMISSIONER
2000 - 2004
A past president of the Save Our Heritage Organisation, Vonn Marie May has decades of professional experience with an emphasis on historical and cultural studies.
Her publications and awards include, 2014 CPF Preservation Design Award – Audrey Geisel House UCSD, 2010 Images of America: Rancho Santa Fe, Arcadia Publishers, 2010 Rancho Santa Fe Historical Society - Lifetime Membership Award, 2009 ASLA National Honor Award – Celebrating the Cultural Landscape Heritage of Mills College, 2009 SCUP National Honor Award – Celebrating the Cultural Landscape Heritage Mills College, 2008 ASLA No.CA Chapter Honor Award – Celebrating the Cultural Landscape Heritage of Mills College, 2005 CPF Design Award – UC Berkeley Landscape Heritage Plan, 2005 CA Governors Preservation Award -- UC Berkeley Landscape Heritage Plan, 2005 ASLA Northern California Merit Award – UC Berkeley Landscape Heritage Plan, 2005 APA Focus Award - Rancho Santa Fe Cultural Landscape Amendment, 2005 APA Focus Award – Uptown Cultural Landscape Survey, 2005 SD Police Historical Assoc. Jose Cota Preservation Award – Preservation Advocacy, 2004 SOHO Rural Preservation Award- Sikes Adobe Farmhouse & Grounds, 2003 CPF President’s Award - Preservation Advocacy, 2003 CPF Design Award – Sikes Adobe Farmhouse Cultural Landscape Report, 2002 Orchid – ASLA Balboa Park Cultural Landscape Nomination, 2001 The Journal of San Diego History Book Review, Balboa Park: A Millennium History, 1996 AIA Merit Award & CPF Honor Award-SD - Mid City Historic Survey, 1995 CA Governor’s Historic Preservation Award - St Francis Chapel, Warner Springs, 1995 SOHO Early California History Award - St. Francis Chapel, 1992-1998 S.D. Union-Tribune Sunday Home Section Features on California horticultural history, 1991 APA Regional Planning Award-Mission San Luis Rey Landscape Master Plan, 1991 The Landscape Journal, Fall U. of Illinois, Urbana-Book Review: Landscaping the American Dream: The Gardens and Film Sets of Florence Yoch 1890-1972 by James J. Yoch, 1990 San Diego Journal of History Spring. The Marston Garden: The Southwest Interprets English Romantic.
VONN MARIE MAY
JOSE A. COTA AWARD FOR PRESERVATION
LEGENDS BEHIND THE BADGE
GALA AND AWARDS CEREMONY 2006
Ms. May has been recognized by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA); American Planning Planning (APA); American Institute of Architects (AIA); California Preservation Foundation (CPF); and the California State Governor’s Award for her project work in historic preservation and cultural landscapes.
From 2000 – 2004, Ms. May also served on the San Diego Police Historical Associations Board of Commissioners.
As the head of the Save the Old HQ Committee, her unwavering commitment to saving the entire structure – versus redevelopment schemes that would have brought down large portions of the building thus leading it to being removed from the National Register of Historic Places – led to losing contacts with some local preservation groups eager to settle. It was her years of institutional knowledge, expertise, guidance and perseverance that saved the Old Police Headquarters from demolition.
For ten years of dedication and sacrifice to save the San Diego Police Department’s largest historical artifact from demolition, Ms. May was awarded the 2005 Jose A. Cota Award for Preservation. Ms. May is the first person to ever receive the award and her nomination was unanimously confirmed by the awards committee.
