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Gunners’
Mates School — Update
Great Lakes Naval
Base, North Chicago
On May 1, two official letters from the Advisory Council
on Historic Preservation (ACHP) were sent to
high-ranking Navy officials telling them to stay the
course with finding a preservation/re-use solution for
the 1954 Gunners’ Mates School, also known as Building
#521. The cutting-edge glass and steel building,
designed by Bruce Graham for Skidmore, Owings and
Merrill, was included on Landmarks Illinois’
2008 Ten
Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois list
announced in April.
Landmarks Illinois is a consulting
party to a federally mandated Section 106 process, in
place since early 2006, which is required when federally
owned buildings listed in or eligible for listing in the
National Register of Historic Places are proposed for
demolition. With the Midwest office of the National
Trust for Historic Preservation, Landmarks Illinois has
continued to encourage Navy officials to
“mothball” Building #521 until a reuse can be
determined. Navy officials have pushed for demolition,
citing that several building projects planned for Great
Lakes Naval Station are yet to be funded and have an
indefinite time line, meaning it could be years until a
reuse for the building is identified. Now, based on the
ACHP’s position, state officials with the Illinois
Historic Preservation Agency will work with the Navy to
determine a cost-effective mothballing solution.
Landmarks Illinois still encourages letters of support
for mothballing and reusing Building #521 to be sent to
Congressman Mark Kirk, 10th Congressional Office, 707
Skokie Blvd., Northbrook, IL 60062 or
www.house.gov/kirk.
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