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.
Preservation News Roundup: November 2022
Landmarks Illinois participates in clean-up day at endangered Pike House
Landmarks Illinois helped clear yard waste at the Eugene S. Pike House in Chicago’s Dan Ryan Woods during a fall clean-up day on November 19. The Ridge Area Historical Society and the Beverly Area Planning Association organized the event, which helped remove leaves and debris from around the historic house’s foundation. The Forest Preserve District of Cook County provided the tools.
Landmarks Illinois included the National Register-listed Pike House on its 2022 Most Endangered list. The picturesque, late 19th-century home was once used as a “Watchman’s Residence” for the forest preserve but today is vacant and deteriorating and needs an outside user and investor. The forest preserve is seeking Requests for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) for the reuse of the structure. Responses are due March 31, 2023. Click the button below to access the forest preserve’s website where the RFEI is listed under “Current Bid Opportunities.” (Pictured: Clean-up day participants rake leaves outside the Pike House.)
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Landmarks Illinois awards grant to Pullman Tech Workshop on Chicago's South Side
Landmarks Illinois has awarded a grant through the Timuel D. Black, Jr. Grant Fund for Chicago’s South Side to Pullman Tech Workshop (PTW), a nonprofit providing historic trades training to people living in and around Chicago’s Pullman neighborhood. PTW will use the $2,500 matching grant from Landmarks Illinois to help with rehabilitation efforts at the former Schlitz Brewery Stable Building. Landmarks Illinois proudly supports PTW’s efforts to build a strong historic trades workforce, especially during a time when the industry is facing a severe shortage of skilled labor. Check out Block Club Chicago’s article about the grant here. Or, read more by clicking below. (Pictured: PTW participants during a visit in August.)
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Interested in applying to the Landmarks Illinois Timuel D. Black, Jr. Grant Fund for Chicago’s South Side? Applications for the next round of funding through the grant program are due January 1. Click here.
Landmarks Illinois co-hosts tour of former Ziock building in Rockford
In partnership with the Courthouse Preservation Partnership, Landmarks Illinois helped bring attention to the successful reuse of the former Ziock building in Rockford, using it as an example for how once endangered historic places can become vibrant spaces that help revitalize their communities.
On November 19, Landmarks Illinois Chief Operating Officer Frank Butterfield and Regional Advocacy Manager Quinn Adamowski joined Landmarks Illinois Board Chair Gary Anderson of Studio GWA, Gorman and Company’s Ron Clewer and members of Courthouse Preservation Partnership to hold a tour of the historic former Ziock building that has been rehabilitated into an Embassy Suites Hotel. The tour was attended by key advocates and officials from Will County where the 2022 Most Endangered site, the Will County Courthouse, is located.
Tour participants learned how the combined $87 million investment to redevelop the former Ziock building in Rockford into a hotel has spurred additional redevelopment in the city, underscoring the possible catalytic impact reuse of the Will County Courthouse could have in Joliet.
Learn about the award-winning effort to save the Ziock building here. Want to help save the Will County Courthouse in Joliet or know of a developer who may be interested in reusing the property? Email Landmarks Illinois Regional Advocacy Manager Quinn Adamowski by clicking the button below. (Pictured: Tour hosts & guests on top the former Ziock Building in Rockford.)
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Miss #GivingTuesday? There is still time to donate to Landmarks Illinois!
Yesterday was Giving Tuesday, the global day of giving. If you missed your chance to donate, you can still make a contribution to Landmarks Illinois’ Annual Fund. An end-of-year gift helps enable us to continue providing the resources people across the state rely on to save special places in their communities.
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Save the date: March 2, 2023 - Preservation Forward
Mark your calendars for Landmarks Illinois’ biggest event of the year! Our spring fundraiser, Preservation Forward, will once again take place at The Old Post Office in Chicago. Hundreds of guests will enjoy cocktails, signature dishes from multiple food stations, networking and an after party all while honoring our 2023 Landmarks Illinois Influencers!
2023 LANDMARKS ILLINOIS INFLUENCERS
- Calvin L. Holmes, President, Chicago Community Loan Fund
- Amy Mills, Owner, 17th Street Barbecue, Faye and The Factory at 17th Street
- Related Midwest, Represented by Sarah Wick, Senior Vice President, Affordable Housing
- Paola Aguirre Serrano, Urban Designer and Founding Partner, BORDERLESS
- Amanda Williams , Artist, Architect
Sponsorships now available. Tickets on sale in January.
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Landmarks Illinois speaks in support of renaming the Henry B. Clark House in Chicago
Earlier this month, the City of Chicago renamed the Henry B. Clarke House the Clarke-Ford House to recognize Bishop Louis Henry and Margaret Ford’s efforts to preserve the city’s oldest home. Built in 1836 by Henry B. Clarke and located at 1827 S. Indiana Ave. on the Near South Side, the house shows what life was like for a family in Chicago during the city’s formative years before the Civil War. From 1941 until 1970, Bishop Louis Henry and Margaret Ford and the St. Paul Church of God in Christ congregation worked to ensure the home’s preservation.
Landmarks Illinois Advocacy Manager Kendra Parzen spoke in support of renaming the historic home at a November 14 hearing held by the Chicago City Council Committee on Special Events, Cultural Affairs and Recreation.
“Landmarks Illinois ardently supports renaming the Henry B. Clarke House to recognize and honor the steadfast dedication of Bishop Louis Henry and Margaret Ford and the St. Paul Church of God in Christ to preserve Chicago’s oldest remaining home,” Parzen’s statement said. “The new name also recognizes the important role of women in the stewardship of this place by including and naming Caroline Clarke and Margaret Ford.”
Read Landmarks Illinois’ full statement regarding the renaming of the historic home below.
Read LI's statement below
Help us save the Century & Consumers Buildings in Downtown Chicago!
The Century & Consumers Buildings in Chicago’s National Register-listed Loop Retail Historic District are in danger of being demolished. Landmarks Illinois included the two early 20th-century commercial buildings on our 2022 Most Endangered list. The General Services Administration, which owns the long-vacant and deteriorating properties, is accepting public comments about their future now through December 12. Comments will be considered as part of the federal environmental review process and can be sent via email to statestreet@gsa.gov. Join us in telling the GSA that Chicago does not want these buildings demolished and wants them to be put back into active use!
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2022 Awards Ceremony celebrates exceptional Illinois preservation projects
The 2022 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards Ceremony took place November 4 at the Chicago Cultural Center. Approximately 200 people joined the celebration honoring the nine, 2022 award-winning preservation efforts from across the state. Thank you to everyone who attended the event and congratulations again to our 2022 award winners! Check out more photos from the event, watch the ceremony and learn about the 2022 award winners at our website.
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Landmarks Illinois is looking to hire an intern to help with our 2023 Most Endangered program. The Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois is the organization’s longest-running annual advocacy program and brings attention to places throughout the state that are threatened by deterioration, lack of maintenance, insufficient funds or inappropriate development. Click below to learn more and apply.
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WATCH: "Economic Development in Illinois’ Commercial Corridors – A Panel Discussion"
Landmarks Illinois’ preservation programs are helping people revitalize their historic storefronts, sparking welcomed economic development in our state’s commercial corridors. Our most recent Preservation Snapshots Lecture on November 17, 2022, featured a panel discussion among recipients of a Landmarks Illinois loan, grant and preservation award who shared first-hand accounts of restoring commercial spaces inside historic buildings. Watch the full lecture below.
WatchAdditional Landmarks Illinois preservation news
- Staff from Landmarks Illinois and AIA Illinois have been meeting with key state legislators in advance of their spring legislative session to discuss the future of the Illinois Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program. The vital program is set to expire at the end of 2023. During private meetings in Springfield and at community events across the state, we have been asking state lawmakers to support pending legislation that would reauthorize the program for five years as well as increase the funding cap. Learn more about the current program here.
- Regional Advocacy Manager Quinn Adamowski has also coordinated meetings with federal legislative staffers to continue advocating for the adoption of key historic preservation-related legislative measures, including an improved federal historic tax credit (H.R.2294) and the designation of Route 66 as a National Historic Trail (H.R.3600). To date, half of Illinois’ Representatives have co-sponsored H.R.2294, and H.R.3600 is waiting to be called for a vote in the House. Please reach out to your federal representative to advocate for these bills!
- On November 9, Landmarks Illinois President & CEO Bonnie McDonald moderated a panel, “What Use Are Old Buildings? Historic Preservation in 2022,” with social justice artist Tonika Lewis Johnson and economist Amber S. Hendley at the Richard H. Driehaus Museum in Chicago as part of its “Capturing Louis Sullivan: What Richard Nickel Saw” exhibit. The panel focused on Tonika’s and Amber’s project, Inequity for Sale, about the long-term effects of systemic racism for families as seen in the built environment in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood. They also talked about the limitations and inequities of traditional historic preservation tools and, in lieu of designation, how Johnson created her own “landmarkers” to preserve the memory and legacy of unjust housing and lending practices. The conversation illuminated the work that we need to do in preservation to make it more equitable and relevant.
- Landmarks Illinois Regional Advocacy Manager Quinn Adamowski continues to help local preservation efforts in Danville to help save the Bresee Tower. The community’s most prominent landmark was included on Landmarks Illinois’ 2012 Most Endangered list. The city took ownership of the 100-year-old building in May but a 20-year-old Danville native his circulating a petition to show support for saving the iconic tower, which has sat vacant and deteriorating for more than a decade. Sign the petition here.
- Bonnie McDonald traveled to St. Louis on November 18 to present to students of Landmarks Illinois Regional Advisor Michael Allen’s “Historic Preservation, Memory and Community” course for Washington University McDonald talked about Landmarks Illinois’ work to redefine preservation and her fellowship work on The Relevancy Project. Poet Cheeraz Gormon started off the class talking about growing up in The Ville, the historically African American neighborhood where the students meet for class.
- Former Landmarks Illinois Director of Advocacy Lisa DiChiera was given a 2022 Landmarks Advocacy Award from the city’s Commission on Chicago Landmarks earlier this month. The annual awards program, now in its 23rd year, honors outstanding individuals and groups that further historic preservation in Chicago through advocacy. Lisa helped people across Chicago and Illinois save special places in their communities during her 22+ years working at Landmarks Illinois. Lisa was honored at a virtual ceremony at the commission’s November 1 public meeting.
Download the full November 2022 Preservation News Roundup below.
November 2022 Preservation News RoundupSupport our advocacy
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