FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2019
MEDIA CONTACT:
Kaitlyn McAvoy
Communications Manager, Landmarks Illinois
312-922-1742
kmcavoy@landmarks.org
Landmarks Illinois Announces Historic Preservation Grant Recipients for First Half of 2019
CHICAGO – Landmarks Illinois, the only statewide nonprofit in Illinois dedicated to helping people save historic places, has awarded $35,250 in grant funding to historic preservation projects across the state. The nine individual grants were awarded through Landmarks Illinois Preservation Heritage Fund and the Barbara C. and Thomas E. Donnelley II Preservation Fund grant programs between January and June 2019.
Individual grant amounts range from $950 to $6,000 each. Landmarks Illinois grants provide funding to nonprofit- and government agency-led preservation projects in Illinois communities. All grants are matching grants, which requires the recipient to raise funds equal or greater to the Landmarks Illinois grant amount. A recent impact study revealed that, while relatively small, LI grants often serve as a catalyst for major transformation at Illinois historic sites. Every $1 a grant recipient receives from Landmarks Illinois is matched by more than $16 from other sources, according to the study.
Below are eight Preservation Heritage Fund grants LI awarded between January and June this year. You can read more about each recipient at our website.
- Bolingbrook Historic Preservation Commission, Bolingbrook: $950 for headstone restoration at the Boardman Cemetery, established in 1832.
- Washington Historical Society, Washington: $2,500 for necessary repairs to the Greek Revival-style Dement House, built in 1858 and set to become a historical museum.
- Campton Township, Kane County: $5,000 for structural repairs to the historic, one-room Whitney Schoolhouse that LI’s young and emerging professionals committee the Skyline Council is helping to restore.
- Heritage Preservation Foundation, Beardstown: $4,400 for a new HVAC system at the 1872 Beardstown Grand Opera House, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
- Beverly Unitarian Church, Chicago: $4,000 for structural repairs to the turrets at the Irish castle-like former Givens House, constructed in 1886 and located within Chicago’s Longwood Drive Historic District and the Ridge National Register Historic District.
- Blue Island Historical Society, Blue Island: $4,000 for exterior restoration at the 1878 Albee House, which serves as the headquarters of the Blue Island Historical Society.
- John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Country Club Hills: $4,000 for restoration work on the 90-foot steeple at the 146-year-old church.
- Vermilion County Museum, Danville: $4,400 for roof and masonry repairs at the Fithian House, famous for hosting Abraham Lincoln during his 1858 U.S. Senate campaign.
Landmarks Illinois also awarded one Donnelley Preservation Fund grant in the first half of 2019. You can read more about this project at our website.
- Save Piety Hill coalition, Rockford: $6,000 to hire a professional architectural historian to research and assess the eligibility for creating a historic district in Rockford’s Signal Hill neighborhood and other potential historic properties in Rockford. LI included Piety Hill properties on its 2019 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois.
More about LI grant programs
The Landmarks Illinois Preservation Heritage Fund Grant Program was created in 2004 and provides funding for historic preservation projects focusing on engineering, architectural and feasibility studies, stabilization, legal services, survey and National Register nominations as well as preservation ordinance support. Applications for Preservation Heritage Fund grants are accepted four times a year in February, May, August and November.
The Barbara C. and Thomas E. Donnelley II Preservation Fund for Illinois was created in 2013 to provide 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 in May and November.
About Landmarks Illinois
We are People Saving Places for People. Landmarks Illinois 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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