The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to create a new civic honor recognizing residents who have made extraordinary contributions to Riverside.
Councilmember Chuck Conder (Ward 4) proposed the Duane and Kelly Roberts City of Riverside Extraordinary Achievement Award, naming it after the couple who purchased the long-closed Mission Inn in December 1992 and reopened it in May 1993 after years of closure.
"I started thinking about a lot of other historic people in this town that have done things and we're losing that history, that we're not celebrating and keeping those names alive," Conder said at the March 10 City Council meeting.
Conder said the award would honor Riversiders whose contributions shaped the city, with future honorees to include city founder John North and Frank Miller, who originally built the Mission Inn.
Ward 1 Councilmember Philip Falcone, who once worked at the Mission Inn, seconded the motion. He recalled a newspaper advertisement from the late 1980s, when the hotel sat behind chain-link fencing for seven years: "The greatest promise never kept — that the Mission Inn will one day reopen."
"Many residents at the time facetiously felt that the Mission Inn would be fenced off ultimately to eventual demise," Falcone said. "And if it wasn't for Duane and Kelly Roberts in December of 1992, purchasing the hotel and then reopening it in May of 1993, that would've been the greatest promise never kept."
Community groups including the Friends of the Mission Inn, the Junior League and Sue Johnson were among those who rallied support for the Roberts' effort to reopen the hotel. The restoration was so extensive it earned a Guinness World Record for the largest termite tent.
A laser-cut steel plaque was unveiled on the Council Chamber wall following the vote.
Councilmember Conder noted that Kelly Roberts was unable to attend the meeting due to a personal commitment, and that Duane Roberts passed away on Nov. 1, 2025.
