March 28, 2025
Updates on ongoing federal actions to dismantle preservation programs
On March 20, Landmarks Illinois released a statement, penned by President & CEO Bonnie McDonald, in response to the Trump Administration’s actions to dismantle preservation practices and resources across the country. In just the past week, the government has made two more announcements that we find deeply troubling and explicitly exclusionary.
(The Ebony Test Kitchen, which Landmarks Illinois saved from demolition in 2018 and later donated to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.)
First, and most recently, is an executive order from the White House on March 27, titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” that aims to erase previous efforts to create a more inclusive and honest narrative of our nation’s history. Included in it is a call for reinstalling some public monuments and memorials that have been removed due to their insensitivity to certain cultures and false portrayals of factual events.
Another part of the order moves to cut federal funding at Smithsonian museum exhibits that “divide Americans based on race.” Such a step could put exhibits like one Landmarks Illinois helped make possible—the Ebony Test Kitchen at the National Museum of African American History and Culture—at risk. The actions laid out in this order go against Landmarks Illinois’ Guiding Principles, and we strongly oppose its outrageous attempt to suppress our nation’s diversity and uplift discriminatory, hurtful practices.
(John C. Kluczynski (left) and U.S. Post Office Buildings (right) with Calder’s Flamingo (center) via Wikipedia, public domain)
Another update in the past week came on March 26, when the General Services Administration released a new list of buildings that it will put up for sale. This list identifies eight federal buildings across the nation, including one in Illinois: the William O. Lipinski Federal Building, constructed in 1923, at 844 N. Rush St. in Chicago. This list differs significantly from one released March 4 that identified 443 federally owned buildings the GSA wanted to sell, including Illinois buildings like the John C. Kluczynski and U.S. Post Office Buildings in downtown Chicago, both designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and listed in the National Register.
The offloading of the Lipinski building does not come as a surprise. The government announced back in 2023 that it would pursue selling the 15-story, National Register-listed site in an effort to consolidate its office footprint. Still, the rapid changes occurring under the Trump Administration give us pause for the future of our historic built environment.
As promised in our March 20 statement, “A message from Bonnie McDonald, President & CEO Of Landmarks Illinois, regarding the Trump Administration’s dismantling of federal preservation programs,” we will continue to keep our constituents and partners informed on how our work, and yours, is being impacted by federal government actions.
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Do you have thoughts or concerns about how recent federal actions will affect your community and preservation work? Let us know. Email our advocacy team!
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