Hyman "Hy" Myers, an alum (BArch’64, MArch’65) and former faculty member in the Weitzman School’s Graduate Program in Historic Preservation, passed away last week. He was 80. Frank Matero, Gonick Family Professor and chair of the Program, and Nan Gutterman, project manager at VITETTA, reflect on his legacy.
Hyman Myers was a nationally recognized architect with a strong expertise in the fields of historic preservation, museum master planning, and design. Hy, to his friends and colleagues alike, was a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, receiving both his bachelor’s degree and Master of Architecture degree from the school. Since 1973, he worked at VITETTA leading their efforts in the areas of preservation planning, restoration architecture, museum planning, and design from 1973-2004. As Director of the Historic Preservation Program, Hy had overall responsibility for the design development and documentation of projects involving the restoration, rehabilitation, and reuse of existing buildings, as well as planning and design of museum facilities. Hy lectured nationally on the subject of preservation, was active locally and nationally on preservation committees and boards and served on several historical commissions. He taught and lectured at the University of Pennsylvania in the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation lecturing yearly for Theories of Historic Preservation and in Studio.
Throughout his fifty+ years of practice, Hy fostered the highest quality design within the public sector. He was been involved in numerous restoration and rehabilitation projects throughout the United States, including a World Heritage Site, more than 60 National Historic Landmarks, over 60 listings on the National Register of Historic Places, and over 70 state and local landmarks including the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the National Gallery of Art, and Pennsylvania’s Capitol Building in Harrisburg. Hy was a driving force advocating for historic preservation both locally and nationally in professional and civic organizations serving as the President of Action for Preservation Philadelphia and the Philadelphia based Preservation League of Pennsylvania, Chairman of the Board of the Bureau for Historic Preservation for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and on the Designation Committee of the Philadelphia Historic Commission for over twenty-five years. He was president of the Philadelphia Chapter SAH from 1972-1974 and was active in both the Victorian Society in America and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
His individual contributions to the profession were recognized by numerous awards including the F. Otto Hass Award from Preservation Pennsylvania in 1992, the James Biddle Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia's in 2009, the John Harbeson Award from the Philadelphia Chapter of the AIA in 2013 and his induction into the AIA College of Fellows in 2005. He was a champion for the preservation of Philadelphia's Victorian architecture, long before it became popular, and he was a font of architectural knowledge as well as a wonderful colleague to all fortunate enough to have known him.
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