Read about our 2003 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award Recipients below. You can see all years of award recipients here.
These four houses, built in 1925-28, are sited dramatically on a levee above the Ohio River in Golconda. For a half a century, they served as residences for the lock keepers at Lock and Dam 51. They were abandoned when the dam closed in 1980 and they were given to the city in 1998 by the federal government.
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This crown jewel of Adler & Sullivan’s renowned Auditorium Building (1886) has been thoroughly renovated—both aesthetically and functionally. The 3,800-seat, four-tier theatre has been completely restored, including paint colors, missing stencils, decorative plasterwork and the original design for the light bulbs that outline the auditorium’s magnificent arched ceiling.
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In 1998, Wagner’s Farm in Glenview was listed as one of Landmarks Illinois’ Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois. The 20-acre parcel was one of the last working farms on Chicago’s North Shore.
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The Metropolitan Community Church is one of the landmarks of Chicago’s South Side Bronzeville community. In July 2001, after the pastor announced plans to demolish this 1889 Richardsonian Romanesque-style structure to construct a new church.
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Few local governments have been as supportive of historic preservation as Kane County, which is located at the western edge of the Chicago metropolitan area. Under the longtime leadership of Chairman Mike McCoy, the Kane County Board has promoted a wide range of preservation initiatives.
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One of Crystal Lake’s most significant historic structures is the C. S. Dole Mansion, an Italianate residence constructed in 1865 for Charles Sidney Dole, an influential grain baron and ice harvester. In 1922, Eliza Ringling of the famed circus family converted the building into the Crystal Lake Country Club.
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This mammoth building, designed by Schmidt, Garden & Martin in 1908, is considered to be one of the best industrial examples of the Prairie Style. Yet, when this National Historic Landmark was abandoned in the mid-1990s, it also ranked as one of Chicago’s most difficult reuse challenges.
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The layout of the former First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Evanston proved an ideal fit for this acclaimed music education center. Built in 1913, the Classical Revival-style structure was designed by S. S. Beman.
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For nearly a decade after a new school facility was built on the edge of town, Belvidere’s historic junior and senior high school buildings and grounds stood vacant. Today, those two structures have found new life as 56 independent living apartments for senior citizens.
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The resource book, “Schoolyards to Skylines: Teaching with Chicago’s Amazing Architecture,” was published by the Chicago Architecture Foundation. It contains 47 lessons for teachers in Kindergarten-eighth grade, using famous and lesser-known buildings, sites, people and events as tools for teachers of social sciences, science, math, language arts and fine arts.
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