Fountain County Group Honored for Preservation Work

An Organization in Fountain County, as well as one in Union City, won Indiana Landmarks’ 2025 Sandi Servaas Memorial Awards, recognizing outstanding achievement in historic preservation.

The Fountain County Art Council won for its proven record of championing community landmarks, including work to save the 1854 Cades Mill Covered Bridge, one of the county’s three remaining covered bridges and the state’s oldest in its original location.

Formed in the 1990s to encourage appreciation of art and heritage, the group’s first preservation win came in 2001, when the 1842 Fountain County Clerk’s Building in Covington was in danger of demolition. The art council rallied to save the landmark, raising money to buy the building before rehabilitating it as a local history museum. The group stepped in again to help save county heritage in 2018 by securing donations and matching grants to clean, repair, and reseal all 2,500 square feet of WPA-era murals within Covington’s 1937 Fountain County Courthouse.

In 2019, a contractor assessing the 1854 Cades Mill Covered Bridge in Fountain County discovered a broken chord putting the entire span at risk of collapse. Members of Fountain County Art Council’s historical committee saw saving the pedestrian bridge as an imperative, but knew finding the money for rehabilitation would be a tall order.

The group partnered with the Western Indiana Community Foundation to set up a fund for repairs and sent out letters seeking support. The campaign attracted statewide attention when Indiana Landmarks added the threatened bridge to its 10 Most Endangered list in 2022 and gave a grant to help develop rehabilitation plans. The art council persisted through pandemic-related labor and materials shortages and unexpected termite damage to raise $575,000 over five years, with a final “Buy a Beam” campaign pushing the project over the finish line. Members of the art council, community partners, and other supporters celebrated the bridge’s completed restoration at a rededication in June 2025.

“There were times we thought, ‘Are we going to get through this?’ But we prayed and prayed, and the money came,” says art council member Carol Freese. “We haven’t asked for recognition; we just did what we felt was important for us and our community. Knowing it is appreciated makes us feel it has been worthwhile.”

The Union City Junior Historical Society won for its student-led work to share the community’s history and heritage, including honoring local veterans.

As winner of the Servaas Award’s youth-serving category, the Union City Junior Historical Society receives $1,000, and organizational category winner Fountain County Art Council 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 was working to raise public awareness and support for preservation before her untimely death in 1975.