Media Contact:
Kaitlyn McAvoy
Communications Manager, Landmarks Illinois
kmcavoy@landmarks.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 27, 2021
Preservation projects in Chicago, Millstadt, Robbins and Yorkville receive Landmarks Illinois grants
CHICAGO – Landmarks Illinois has awarded a total of $15,000 to six historic preservation projects statewide through the organization’s three grant programs. Four different preservation projects in Chicago, Millstadt, Robbins and Yorkville, Illinois, received Preservation Heritage Fund Grants. Another Chicago project was awarded a grant through the Barbara C. and Thomas E. Donnelley II Preservation Fund for Illinois. And, a historic church in Chicago’s Pullman neighborhood became the second grant ever awarded through Landmarks Illinois’ newest grant program, the Timuel D. Black, Jr. Grant Fund for Chicago’s South Side.
The individual grants range between $1,000 and $5,000 each and are awarded on a matching basis, requiring the recipient to raise funds equal or greater to the Landmarks Illinois grant amount. Landmarks Illinois grant funding is used toward preserving historic and significant places in communities throughout Illinois.
Preservation Heritage Fund Grant Recipients:
- Bronzeville Community Development Partnership (BCDP), Chicago: $1,000 to conduct an appraisal of the Griffin Funeral Home site, a historic, African American-owned parlor with a rich and diverse past, including being the site of Camp Douglas, a Civil War internment camp. BCDP, which operates the Urban Innovation Center, is interested in redeveloping the site as a business incubator for the neighborhood.
- Friends of the Old Millstadt Water Tower, Millstadt: $5,000 to help restore the historic Old Millstadt Water Tower, the town’s most visible landmark and one of only a few “tin man” style towers that remain in Illinois. The water tower, built in 1931, was included on Landmarks Illinois’ 2014 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois.
- Robbins Historical Society, Robbins: $2,500 to help stabilize the S.B Fuller Home, a historic home once owned by prominent African American business man S.B Fuller and located in the oldest historically Black suburb of Chicago.
- Kendall County Historical Society, Yorkville: $2,500 to help pay for a roof replacement on the Union School building, a one-story, one-room schoolhouse built in 1847. The school is now located at Lyon Family Farm, operated by the Kendall County Historical Society, that includes numerous historic structures that help tell the story of the county’s past.
Visit our website to learn more about each grant recipient.
The Preservation Heritage Fund Grant Program provides funding to people and organizations in Illinois leading historic preservation projects at significant structures that are under threat of demolition, require stabilization and/or reuse or structural evaluation or those that need to be evaluated for landmark eligibility. Grant applications are accepted four times a year, and the next application deadline is April 15, 2021.
Barbara C. and Thomas E. Donnelley II Preservation Fund for Illinois Grant Recipient:
- House of Prayer, Chicago: $1,500 to complete a facility cost estimate for the Central Park Theater, a more than 100-year old former theater listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The theater became a church in 1971 and was included on Landmarks Illinois’ 2015 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois. Visit our website to learn more about this grant project.
Landmarks Illinois’ Barbara C. and Thomas E. Donnelley II Preservation Fund for Illinois provides monetary assistance to planning activities and education efforts focused on preservation. Applications for Barbara C. and Thomas E. Donnelley II Preservation Fund grants are accepted twice a year, and the next application deadline is April 15, 2021.
Timuel D. Black, Jr. Grant Fund for Chicago’s South Side Grant Recipient:
- Greenstone United Methodist Church, Chicago: $2,500 for Phase 1 restoration work of the historic church’s main tower, located in Chicago’s Pullman neighborhood. Designed by Solon Beman, the nearly 140-year-old church was constructed with unique green, serpentine stone from Pennsylvania and is need of extensive repair, with the tower’s structure left compromised and crumbling. Visit our website to learn more about this grant project.
Launched in May 2020, the Landmarks Illinois Timuel D. Black, Jr. Grant Fund for Chicago’s South Side provides small planning and capital grants to support organizations and people working to preserve the history, culture and architecture of Chicago’s South Side, where Mr. Black, acclaimed civil rights leader, has spent the majority of his life living and promoting African American history. Grant applications are accepted four times a year, and the next application deadline is April 15, 2021.
About Landmarks Illinois
We are People Saving Places for People. Landmarks Illinois, now celebrating its 50th Anniversary, is a membership-based nonprofit organization serving the people of Illinois. We inspire and empower stakeholders to save places that matter to them by providing free guidance, practical and financial resources and access to strategic partnerships. For more information, visit www.Landmarks.org.
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