Natchez, a city with more than 1,500 contributing structures in its National Register Historic districts, will celebrate National Historic Preservation Week May 14-20.

&uot;Natchez is an extremely unique city that has used historic preservation early on to save its wonderful historic structures and retain its uniqueness among American cities,&uot; said City Planner David Preziosi. &uot;Nowhere else in the United States is there a setting as unique as Natchez with the historic Under-the-Hill area, historic downtown commercial and residential districts, historic subdivisions and the many individual historic landmarks throughout the city and Adams County.&uot;

The theme of this year’s Preservation Week is &uot;Taking America’s Past into the Future.&uot; Natchez’s preservation week is sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, City of Natchez, Natchez Preservation Commission and the Historic Natchez Foundation.

&uot;The millennium is a time to reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going,&uot; said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. &uot;This year’s theme celebrates that link between past and future, challenging us to plan for the issues that will confront us in the years to come. It is essential that we be vigilant, flexible and well informed in order to deal with the rapid changes that are sure to have an impact on our irreplaceable historic treasures.&uot;

Following Preservation Week, Natchez will honor four historic preservation projects at the May 23 meeting of the Board of Aldermen. Awards will be given for residential and commercial restorations, new construction and restoration of a missing decorative feature.