2025 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award Recipients

Read about our 2025 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award Recipients below. Join us in honoring these projects at our November 7 awards ceremony. Details here.

Pearl Place Apartments, Belvidere

2025 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Preservation

Gorman & Company led the large-scale restoration of a popular and much-needed affordable housing development in Belvidere. Located in the adaptively reused historic Garfield School, the restoration made it possible for the building to continue serving as affordable housing for seniors and veterans, rather than being converted to market-rate apartments.

(Photo credit: Ron Clewer)

Learn More

Coles County Courthouse Window Project, Charleston

2025 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Environmental Sustainability

Coles County undertook a two-year effort to replace 384 deteriorating windows on its historic courthouse, significantly improving the energy efficiency of the 125-year-old building. The project also enhanced the overall appearance of the prominent landmark and inspired other local preservation and economic development initiatives.

(Photo credit: Noah Spence)

Learn more

Friends of Historic Second Church, Chicago

2025 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Stewardship

For nearly 20 years, the volunteer-led Friends of Historic Second Church has provided exemplary stewardship for the historic Second Presbyterian Church in Chicago’s South Loop, raising $4 million for preservation projects, leading tours that promote the building’s history and achieving National Historic Landmark status for the church interior.

(Photo credit: Tom Venturella)

Learn more

National Public Housing Museum, Chicago

2025 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Adaptive Reuse & the Richard H. Driehaus Legacy Award

The National Public Housing Museum has adaptively reused the last remaining building of the Jane Addams Homes, a historic site of public housing on Chicago’s Near West Side. The monumental effort to reactivate the long-vacant yet culturally significant three-story building has created an inspiring civic and cultural destination dedicated to sharing true stories of public housing in the U.S.

(Photo credit: Ryan Barayuga)

Learn more

Pui Tak Center - Chinese Christian Union Church, Chicago

2025 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation

The Pui Tak Center and the building’s owner, the Chinese Christian Union Church, have led numerous large-scale restoration projects at the popular gathering space in Chicago’s Chinatown neighborhood. A recent $1 million project to repair masonry, terra cotta and the building’s unique canopy is part of a larger effort to ensure the building, its history and the largely untold stories of Asian Americans remain a part of the community for generations to come.

(Photo credit: Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.)

LEarn more

Edison Ave Art Lofts, Granite City

2025 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Adaptive Reuse

Rise Community Development and its partners creatively reused the historic former Tri-County YMCA to create a mixed-use development featuring affordable housing and community art space. The development provides in-demand community services, like housing for veterans, all while celebrating the original character of the nearly century-old local landmark.

(Photo credit: Wideiphoto)

learn more

Friends of the Old Millstadt Water Tower, Millstadt

2025 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Advocacy

Local group, Friends of the Old Millstadt Water Tower, led a successful, years-long advocacy campaign to save one of their community’s oldest and most notable landmarks: the old tin man-style water tower built in 1931. The group’s sustained grassroots effort led to a fully restored water tower that the whole town is proud of.

(Scott Olson Photography)

Learn more

Banging Gavel Brews, Tinley Park

2025 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Adaptive Reuse

The historic Karl Vogt Building has been reactivated into Banging Gavel Brews, a lively community gathering space, brewery, taproom and restaurant. The adaptive reuse of Tiley Park’s only National Register-listed property has revived the local downtown area, showing how thoughtful historic preservation can enrich quality of life and support economic development.

(Photo credit: Dirk Matthews)

Learn more

Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie, Waukegan

2025 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Rehabilitation

A long-vacant, architecturally significant library in downtown Waukegan has been painstakingly restored to create a vibrant museum that celebrates the building’s unique and original features. The Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie, now home to the Waukegan Historical Society, gives people the chance to learn about and engage in local history while experiencing a piece of important early 20th-century architecture.

(Photo credit: Leslie Schwartz)

Learn more

Support our advocacy

Be a voice for the future of our communities by supporting Landmarks Illinois. Our work enhances communities, empowers citizens, promotes local economic development and offers environmentally sound solutions.

Become A Member