The monthly Landmarks Illinois News Roundup keeps you in the loop on the latest preservation news stories from the month as well as Landmarks Illinois’ main advocacy efforts, projects and announcements. You can also receive these monthly news roundups directly in your inbox by signing up for our newsletters at the bottom of the page.
March 2023 Preservation News Roundup
Rehabilitation begins at the Broadview Hotel in East St. Louis
Landmarks Illinois Regional Advocacy Manager Quinn Adamowski visited East St. Louis on March 28 to celebrate the groundbreaking of the New Broadview project, which will transform the once threatened former Broadview Hotel into senior affordable housing. Led by Yaphett El-Amin of Efficacy Consulting & Development, the project is the largest private investment in East St. Louis in decades and is viewed as a catalytic opportunity for the revitalization of downtown East St. Louis.
Landmarks Illinois included the former Broadview Hotel on the 2021 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois. Built in 1927 listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the hotel has sat vacant since 2004 and has suffered from a lack of maintenance. Click below to learn more about the history of the hotel.
Pictured left to right: Tina Anderson (Aetna), East St. Louis Councilman Ryan Cason, Rev. Kendall Granger & Wyvetta Granger (Community Lifeline), Former East St. Louis Mayor Emeka Jackson-Hicks, Yaphett El-Amin (Efficacy Consulting & Development), Quinn Adamowski (Landmarks Illinois), East St. Louis Mayor Robert Eastern, Former IL Rep. Latoya Greenwood (IL- 115), Matt Fulson (Tier 1 Development), Adolphus Pruitt (Pruitt & Associates), Jarrett Cooper & Chad Schrand (Rosemann Architect); Second Row: Eddie Stechschulte (Altman Charter).
Read more in the news:
Officials celebrate groundbreaking of Broadview Hotel revitalization project in East St. Louis
Belleville News-Democrat, March 28
Redevelopment of Broadview Hotel in East St. Louis breaks ground
St. Louis Business Journal, March 29
Multi-million dollar transformation to historic East St. Louis project begins
KMOV, March 28
Redevelopment of Broadview Hotel in East St. Louis breaks ground
KSDK, March 28
East St. Louis set to revitalize historic, vacant hotel into housing
KMOV, March 27
Landmarks Illinois advocates for the historic preservation tax credit in Springfield
Regional Advocacy Manager Quinn Adamowski and Landmarks Illinois Board Chair Gary Anderson joined Sen. Steve Stadleman at the Illinois State Capitol on March 29 to offer testimony on Senate Bill 119 during a State Senate Revenue Committee meeting. The bill, along with House Bill 1513, would extend the Illinois Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program (IL-HTC) for an additional five years beyond 2023 and increase the yearly allocation pool from $15 million to $75 million.
The IL-HTC provides a state income-tax credit equal to 25% of a project’s Qualified Rehabilitation Expenditures (QREs), not to exceed $3 million, to owners of certified historic structures who undertake certified rehabilitation projects. The program took effect in 2019, following more than a decade of advocacy work by Landmarks Illinois and preservation partners. The vital tax credit has successfully incentivized the reinvestment in Illinois’ historic places. However, it is set to expire at the end of the year. Click below to learn more about the IL-HTC and how you can help us advocate to extend and expand the program.
Pictured left to right: Quinn Adamowski, Sen. Steve Stadleman and Gary Anderson at the Illinois State Capitol.
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NEW GRANT RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED!
Landmarks Illinois has awarded grants to fund historic preservation projects in Golconda and Murphysboro through the Landmarks Illinois Banterra Bank Preserve Southern Illinois Grant Program. The matching grants will support projects at the Riverview Mansion Hotel in Golconda and a commercial building at 1330 Walnut St. in Murphysboro’s Main Street corridor (pictured). Both projects will help spark local economic development and reinvestment in our historic places in Southern Illinois.
Learn more about each grant recipient at our website.
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Six firms submit reuse ideas for Will County Courthouse
Six firms have expressed interest in reusing the former Will County Courthouse in Joliet, a brutalist-style building constructed in 1969 that is at risk of being demolished. The suggestions to transform the 1969 building into a hotel, office space or housing came in response to an exploratory Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) Landmarks Illinois and Courthouse Preservation Partnership issued earlier this year.
On March 16, Landmarks Illinois Regional Advocacy Manager Quinn Adamowski presented the RFEI responses from architects, developers and engineering firms that specialize in historic preservation and adaptive reuse to the Will County Board as a way to encourage an official RFP process. The RFEI responses show the courthouse — included on Landmarks Illinois’ 2022 Most Endangered list — offers unique opportunities for redevelopment. Learn more about the responses at our website below.
Pictured: Reuse rendering by Gorman and Company. Credit: Nathaniel Hollister, AIA.
Read more in the news:
Professionals offer ideas for old Will County Courthouse
Joliet Herald-News, March 19
Preservationists make plea for Will County Board to repurpose rather than demolish former courthouse (PDF)
Daily Southtown, March 16
2023 Preservation Forward raises more than $730,000 for Landmarks Illinois
More than 700 guests gathered at The Old Post Office in Chicago on March 2 for 2023 Preservation Forward. The event honored the 2023 Landmarks Illinois Influencers and raised more than $730K for Landmarks Illinois’ mission-driven work! Thank you to everyone who came, donated and showed support for Landmarks Illinois and this year’s honorees!
Pictured left to right: Landmarks Illinois Board Secretary & 2023 Preservation Forward Chair Erika Block, 2023 Landmarks Illinois Influencer Sarah Wick of Related Midwest, 2023 Landmarks Illinois Influencer Paola Aguirre-Serrano of Borderless Studio, Erik Hall of Chicago Community Loan Fund (representing 2023 Landmarks Illinois Influencer Calvin L. Holmes), 2023 Landmarks Illinois Influencer, Artist & Architect Amanda Williams, 2023 Landmarks Illinois Influencer Amy Mills of 17th Street Barbecue & Faye, Landmarks Illinois President & CEO Bonnie McDonald. Credit: David T. Kindler
See photos from Preservation Forward below!
Preservation Forward also featured inspiring videos on our 2023 Landmarks Illinois Influencers and their work. Watch them all at Landmarks Illinois’ YouTube channel!
GRANT APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 1!
Apply for a grant through Landmarks Illinois’ Preservation Heritage Fund and the Barbara C. and Thomas E. Donnelley II Preservation Fund for Illinois by April 1! Each fund provides financial assistance to preserve or protect significant structures and sites in Illinois. Visit our website to read grant guidelines and to submit an application.
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Site analysis aids preservation efforts at West Chicago's McAuley Schoolhouse
AltusWorks recently completed a pro bono space and site planning analysis at McAuley Schoolhouse in West Chicago, a site Landmarks Illinois included on its 2014 Most Endangered list. Landmarks Illinois’ Advocacy Manager Kendra Parzen has been working with West Chicago Elementary School District 33 staff to find a reuse and/or rehabilitation solution for the former schoolhouse. The recent space and site planning analysis was presented to school district officials to help plan for that effort.
The nearly 110-year-old McAuley Schoolhouse is located at 1820 W Roosevelt Road in West Chicago. In 1982, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The school closed in 1992 and has sat vacant and without regular maintenance since.
Crete Area Historical Society plans to reuse historic church as museum, headquarters
Landmarks Illinois’ Advocacy Manager Kendra Parzen also helped facilitate a recent pro bono assessment at Crete Congregational Church, performed by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. The assessment will help the Crete Area Historical Society, which owns the now former church property, prepare to rehabilitate the building and an attached railroad depot as a museum and historical society headquarters.
Built in 1853, the Crete Congregational Church is also included on the Underground Railroad Network to Freedom in recognition of several members of the congregation who were conductors on the Underground Railroad. Click below to learn more about the Crete Area Historical Society’s preservation efforts.
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Promontory Point moves closer to Chicago Landmark designation
On March 9, the Commission on Chicago Landmarks unanimously voted to approve the final landmark designation for Promontory Point.
Landmarks Illinois has called for the landmarking and preservation of the 40-acre, man-made peninsula in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood for nearly 20 years, ever since it was included on Landmarks Illinois’ 2004 Most Endangered List. Promontory Point was constructed in the 1930s and features landscapes designed by Alfred Caldwell. Its limestone revetment, identified as a significant historical and architectural feature, is also now the last stretch of intact, WPA-era limestone revetment spanning the lakefront.
Landmarks Illinois Advocacy Manager Kendra Parzen spoke in favor of landmark designation at the CCL’s March 9 meeting, as well as in January when preliminary landmark approval was granted. The full Chicago City Council will now consider granting final landmark designation to Promontory Point.
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SAVE THE DATE!
Skyline Social
June 1, 2023
Skyline Council, Landmarks Illinois’ young and emerging professionals committee, is hosting its annual fundraising event, the Skyline Social at Garfield Park Conservatory. Tickets will go on sale in April. Sponsorship opportunities now available. Click below to learn more about how you can support the event.
Sponsorship opportunitiesAdditional Landmarks Illinois preservation news
- The City of Chicago is accepting nominations for the 2023 Adopt-A-Landmark program now through June 21. The program is open to designated Chicago landmarks to support their restoration. Learn more about the program and how to apply here.
- Members of the public are encouraged to continue to participate in the Illinois Statewide Historic Preservation Office’s (IL-SHPO) process to prepare a new statewide historic preservation plan. This month, the state released a public survey as part of its planning process. Members of the public are welcome to take it now through April 21. Access it here.
- On March 24, Landmarks Illinois President & CEO Bonnie McDonald presented about the organization’s advocacy and reinvestment work at the She Owns It She Biz Conference, which supports supporting Illinois’ Black women entrepreneurs. She also presented on March 31 to Historic Preservation Foundation of the Fortnightly, a nonprofit raising funds to maintain and restore the Chicago Landmark Lathrop House, home of The Fortnightly of Chicago, designed by Charles McKim. Reach out to McDonald to request a Landmarks Illinois presentation.
Download the full news roundup below.
March 2023 Preservation News RoundupSupport our advocacy
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