St. Augustine City Commission presents Adelaide Sanchez Award to Cindy Stevenson

A city commissioner presented the 2025 Adelaide Sanchez Award for Historic Preservation and Restoration to Cindy Stevenson at a ceremonial event in St. Augustine on Oct. 26, 2025. The presentation recognized Stevenson's decades of advocacy and work to secure funding and protections for the city's historic and cultural resources.

The Adelaide Sanchez Award was established by the city commission in October 2013 to recognize individuals and organizations for historic preservation, restoration, education and interpretation. The commissioner presenting the award said the prize honors "those individuals who make significant contributions to the preservation of our history and who are committed to sharing our story with others." The presenter noted Adelaide Sanchez's long career as a reporter and her desire that proceeds from the sale of her home support historic restoration and preservation in St. Augustine.

The presenter cited multiple examples of Stevenson's work on behalf of St. Augustine and St. Johns County, saying Stevenson advocated for dedicated funds from the sale of the Northern St. Johns County utility area to JEA to acquire land at Fort Mose through the county's Land Acquisition Management Program (LAMP). The presenter also credited Stevenson with repeatedly pushing for state funding for the Division of Historic Resources grant programs and for opposing state legislation the presenter described as threatening the city's ability to protect cultural and historic resources.

The presenter recalled a 2016 state bill described during the ceremony as an "archaeology bill" that would have allowed individuals to dig for historic resources on public property. According to remarks read at the podium, Stevenson and then-Mayor Nancy Sykes Klein opposed the measure; the presenter said the bill failed and that Stevenson subsequently organized an education session for other legislators with the Florida secretary of state to explain why such a bill would be harmful to historic resources.

Accepting the award, Cindy Stevenson, identified during the ceremony as a former Florida state representative and longtime advocate for St. Augustine, said she was "beyond overwhelmed and grateful" and described preservation work as a team effort. Stevenson said, "It has just been such an honor to serve this area. I've never lived more than 50 miles from where we're standing now," and thanked family members and those who worked behind the scenes to support preservation efforts.

Presenters invited previous Adelaide Sanchez Award recipients in the audience to stand and recognized prior honorees including Sheila Greenleaf, Philip McDaniel, Ryan Detre, the St. Augustine Garrison, the Woman's Exchange of St. Augustine, Nancy Sykes Klein, Dolores and Alan Lastinger, David Nolan, Les Thomas, Margo Pope, Leslie Keys, Regina Gail Phillips, and the Sisters of Saint Joseph.

The ceremony was purely honorary; the presenter described the award's two components (historic preservation and restoration; and historic education and interpretation) and no formal vote or regulatory action was recorded during the event. The city commission will continue its regular business at the commission's scheduled meeting later the same day.

Notes: dates and program names referenced in remarks (for example, the 2013 creation of the Adelaide Sanchez Award and the 2016 archaeology bill) were stated during the ceremony; the text above reports those statements as presented at the event.