Preservation News Roundup: September 2022

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.

A farewell to Lisa DiChiera, longtime Director of Advocacy

The Landmarks Illinois staff celebrated former Director of Advocacy Lisa DiChiera at a lunch in early September. Lisa worked at Landmarks Illinois for more than 22 years and has left the organization to return to her beloved home state of Michigan. An intimate going-away party was also held in Lisa’s honor in August at Glessner House in Chicago. See photos of the event below.

Lisa's party photos

2022 Award Winners!

Landmarks Illinois has announced the recipients of the 2022 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards, our annual program celebrating exceptional preservation efforts in Illinois. These award-winning preservation efforts, and the people who made them possible, will be honored at a public ceremony on November 4, 2022, at the historic Chicago Cultural Center.

Read more

Grant Deadline: Oct. 1

Applications for the Landmarks Illinois Preservation Heritage Fund Grant Program and the Barbara C. and Thomas E. Donnelley II Preservation Fund Grant Program are due tomorrow, October 1! See if your project qualifies for funding and learn how to submit a grant application at our website.

Learn more

Preservation Snapshots Lecture: Recent Past Survey of Cook County October 20

Join us for a look back at the Recent Past Survey, a 16-year effort of Landmarks Illinois and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s (SAIC) Graduate Program in Historic Preservation.

Register

RBIC event celebrates Tribune Tower

Landmarks Illinois’ Real Estate and Building Industries Council (RBIC), CIM Group and Golub & Company hosted a special event September 28 at the Tribune Tower in Chicago, which celebrated the renovation and reuse of the building. See photos from the event below.

RBIC Photos

Additional Landmarks Illinois News

  • Landmarks Illinois recently welcomed Kendra Parzen as our new Advocacy Manager. Learn more about Kendra, who will work with local advocates in Chicago and the suburbs in her new role.
  • At the September 8 Commission on Chicago Landmarks meeting, Landmarks Illinois and the National Trust for Historic Preservation provided a joint letter in support for Chicago Landmark designation for the Century and Consumers Buildings on State Street, a 2022 Most Endangered site. Kendra Parzen, Landmarks Illinois Advocacy Manager, also made a public statement at the meeting, which you can read here. The commission decided not to vote on landmark designation at this time, citing a need for more information.
  • Landmarks Illinois and Naperville Preservation hosted a Suburban Preservation Alliance meeting September 17 in Naperville at the city’s historic Woman’s Club. The gatherings brings stakeholders from the region together to discuss preservation issues and best practices. At this month’s meeting, participants brainstormed how best to document and preserve Naperville’s unique modern architecture — an effort also supported by Landmarks Illinois grant funding. Learn more.
  • The Forest Preserve District of Cook County has extended its Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) for the reuse of the Eugene S. Pike House in Chicago, a 2022 Most Endangered site, located at 1826 W. 91st Street in the Dan Ryan Woods. Responses are now due March 31, 2023. To access the RFEI, visit the Current Bid Opportunities webpage. From there, interested parties can register and download the RFEI. You can also reach out to Beverly Area Planning Association for help & guidance. Contact Grace Kuikman at gkuikman@bapa.org.
  • On September 21, Quinn Adamowski and Bonnie McDonald attended the Maywood Supportive Living ribbon cutting ceremony. Developer Celadon Partners converted the historic former Baptist Retirement Home, vacant for over 15 years, to a supportive low-income senior housing using federal and state historic tax credits. Landmarks Illinois helped to pass the state historic tax credit legislation in 2018.
  • Landmarks Illinois grant recipient, the LYTE Collective, opened its new community center LYTE Lounge in Chicago’s Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood this month. Landmarks Illinois Director of Reinvestment Suzanne Germann attended the opening celebration on September 22. A grant through Landmarks Illinois’ Timuel D. Black, Jr. Grant Fund for Chicago’s South Side help fund the transformation of the 1926 former Ingleside-Whitfield United Methodist Church, which now houses LYTE Lounge.
  • Landmarks Illinois President & CEO Bonnie McDonald and AIA Illinois Executive Vice President Stacey Pfingsten met up with Illinois House Deputy Majority Leader Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth Peoria at an event at Chicago’s Old Post Office on September 21to discuss the need to extend the Illinois Historic Preservation Tax Credit program beyond 2023.
  • On September 16, Landmarks Illinois President & Bonnie McDonald visited with Pullman Tech Workshop (PTW) Executive Director Nick Lubovich, Board Chair Megan Lydon and Board Member Pastor Luther Mason at the organization’s training center to offer technical assistance in nonprofit organizational development, capacity building and fundraising. PTW is a new nonprofit in Chicago’s Pullman neighborhood that provides historic preservation construction skills training. Learn more.
  • Landmarks Illinois President & CEO Bonnie McDonald gave the keynote speech at the Preserve Arkansas 40th Anniversary dinner on September 9 in Hot Springs. She presented about Landmarks Illinois’ 50th anniversary work to create and implement our guiding principles, as well as explore preservation’s future relevance.
  • Bonnie McDonald presented with Evanston architect, Nathan Kipnis, FAIA, at the national AIA Custom Residential Architecture Network (CRAN) Symposium in Chicago about how to make historic and older homes more sustainable.

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September 2022 Preservation News Roundup

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