Historic Denver plans to honor some of the people and projects that keep Denver history alive at its 47th annual awards dinner Wednesday at the Brown Palace Hotel, the organization announced this week.

The awards – a Denver tradition, they’ve been handed out at the historic Brown Palace every year since 1971 – bring together more than 400 civic and community leaders to toast historic preservation work. This year, they’re going to three individuals and families, four preservation projects and one example of incorporating an old building with new construction.

The Keystone Award for lifetime achievement goes to Ruth Falkenberg and her late husband, Larry Nelson, and to Ruth’s parents, Bill S. Falkenberg and his late wife, Janis Falkenberg, for their decades of leadership in the preservation and development communities. Among their favorite projects: Hangar 61, the Rocky Mountain Bank Note Building, and several buildings in Lower Downtown, including the Hardware Block. Ruth’s parents worked on the restoration of the Molly Brown House, 9th Street Historic Park and Four Mile Historic Park, and Janice was the first woman to chair the board of Colorado Historical Society, now know as History Colorado.

The Ann Love Award, named for the former first lady of Colorado and one of Historic Denver’s founders, goes to Susan Powers, the president of real estate development company Urban Ventures. Her company has focused its work near downtown, developing everything from historic renovations to affordable housing, student housing and mixed-use projects in atypical locations – like Aria Denver, the northwest Denver mixed income co-housing development on the site of Marycrest, a retired convent. Before forming the company in 1998, Powers worked for the Denver Urban Renewal Authority and played a key role rehabilitating the Denver Dry Building.

The Molly Brown Award, honoring a woman who demonstrates the commitment to community of the unsinkable Denver legend, goes to Charleszine “Terry” Nelson, special collection and community resource manager for the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library. The local expert on Five Points history, Nelson has worked throughout the library system for more than 30 years and works to share the culture and stories of the neighborhood from generation to generation. Among the luminaries who plan to be on hand to applaud Nelson are former Mayor Wellington Webb and former state Rep. Wilma Webb, former House Speaker Terrance Carroll and Carlotta LaNier, the youngest of the Little Rock Nine.

Four projects will be recognized with Community Preservation Awards, including the Krisana Park Conservation Overlay District, preserving a mid-century modern neighborhood in southeast Denver; the Stanley Marketplace, an urban retail center built from the Stanley Aviation Building near Stapleton; the Goddard School at Steele Gymnasium, a modern pre-kindergarten school in Berkeley that was once the 1914 Robert Steele Gymnasium; and the Bosler House, a Highland gem restored by Steven and Jan Davis.

The second annual Remix Award goes to Shift Workspaces Bannock, founder Grant Barnhill’s project that transformed the Fistell’s Electronics Building into modern co-working space.

Sponsorships and tckets to the dinner and cocktail hour, starting at $195, are still available, Historic Denver said.