[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15471-15472]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO DR. KNOX MELLON

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I wish to take this opportunity to 
recognize the extraordinary service of Dr. Knox Mellon who is retiring 
from the California Missions Foundation after 8 years as its executive 
director. Though he will be missed, his contributions to the field of 
historic preservation will benefit generations to come.
  Dr. Mellon has had a long and distinguished career in the field of 
historic preservation. In 1977, he was appointed as California's first 
professional State Historic Preservation Officer by Governor Jerry 
Brown. He served in that position until 1983 and then branched out on 
his own, starting Knox Mellon and Associates, a consulting firm 
specializing in historic preservation, oral history, historic research, 
and strategic planning. Dr. Mellon's firm worked on a number of 
historic buildings in Southern California, including the Downtown 
Central Library in Los Angeles, Los Angeles City Hall, the Beverly 
Hills Hotel, and the L.A. Coliseum. During the same time, Dr. Mellon 
also found time in his busy schedule to serve as an Adjunct Professor 
of History at the University of California, Riverside, as well as the 
Director of the Mission Inn Foundation. In 2000, Dr. Mellon was 
appointed to a second term as California's State Historic Preservation 
Officer, this time by Governor Gray Davis. In 2004, he retired from 
State service and became the executive director of the nonprofit 
California Missions Foundation.
  Founded in 1998, the California Missions Foundation is the only 
organization dedicated solely to the long-term

[[Page 15472]]

preservation and restoration of California's 21 missions. Early in Dr. 
Mellon's tenure as executive director, we worked together with 
Congressman Sam Farr and Senator Dianne Feinstein to pass the 
California Missions Preservation Act. At a 2005 event to celebrate this 
new law, Dr. Mellon eloquently discussed the historic value of 
California's missions, which are the most visited historic attractions 
in the State:

       The missions are California's Pyramids. They are a part of 
     our past. They help symbolize the nation's western 
     beginnings. Of all the institutions that define California's 
     heritage, none has the historic significance and emotional 
     impact of the chain of Spanish missions that stretch from San 
     Diego to Sonoma. The missions are an important part of the 
     state's cultural fabric and must be preserved as priceless 
     historic monuments.

  During Dr. Mellon's tenure as executive director, the California 
Missions Foundation received a number of grants to preserve and restore 
California's missions, including four grants from the Department of 
Interior totaling $2.28 million. With those funds, the California 
Missions Foundation was able to repair some of the extensive earthquake 
damage at Mission San Miguel; complete a seismic retrofit at Mission 
San Luis Rey; and stabilize buildings and preserve artwork and 
artifacts at the Carmel and Santa Barbara missions.
  California's residents and visitors alike benefit from Dr. Mellon's 
hard work, expertise, and vision each time they visit one of 
California's beautiful and historic missions.
  I thank Dr. Mellon for his service to the State of California, and 
wish him and his wife Carlotta the very best as they embark on the next 
exciting phase of their lives.

                          ____________________