October 2022 Preservation News

Landmarks Illinois awards first grants through its special Southern Illinois grant program

Landmarks Illinois and Banterra Bank traveled to Elizabethtown and Sesser this month to present grants to the first recipients of the new Landmarks Illinois Banterra Bank Preserve Southern Illinois Grant Program. The Hardin County Independent in Elizabethtown and Brewed on Broadway and Pin Up Salon in Sesser have been awarded $2,500 matching grants through the program — funding the businesses will use to make necessary repairs to the historic buildings in which they operate.

Pictured above: Landmarks Illinois Director of Reinvestment Suzanne Germann (second from right) and Board Member Jennifer Spence (right), of grant partner Banterra Bank, join grant recipients Rebecca and Kenny Benedict and their family members outside Brewed on Broadway in Sesser during a check presentation event October 17.

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Historic Charles Wenner House in Galena protected with Landmarks Illinois Preservation Easement

The National Register-listed Charles Wenner House in Galena is now protected with a Landmarks Illinois preservation easement — a legal agreement that protects the property in perpetuity. Landmarks Illinois Director of Reinvestment Suzanne Germann traveled to Galena earlier this month to record the easement on the property, owned by Brian McCormick and Rob Latousek.

The house, with 20-inch-thick walls constructed of locally quarried limestone, represents a vernacular-type dwelling constructed by settlers who came to Galena to work the lead mines. Brian began researching the house in 1984 while a student at the University of Illinois’ School of Architecture. He now owns the property and has restored it. He and Rob donated the easement on the house to Landmarks Illinois to ensure its preservation while also making a conservation easement donation on the surrounding 68-acre property to the Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation (JDCF). This partnership between the property owners, JDCF and Landmarks Illinois is a model for others who wish to protect a historic structure in its natural environment. Learn more about Landmarks Illinois' easement program below.

Pictured above: (Left to right) Joe Daviess Conservation Foundation Director of Land & Conservation Jim Johannsen, Landmarks Illinois Director of Reinvestment Suzanne Germann, Joe Daviess Conservation Foundation Executive Director Steve Barg, Charles Wenner House owners Brian McCormick and Rob Latousek, and Joe Daviess Conservation Foundation Board President Emily Painter at the Charles Wenner House in Galena in October.

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Skyline Council leads tour of Joliet

Landmarks Illinois young & emerging professional committee, the Skyline Council, hosted a pub crawl and neighborhood tour in Downtown Joliet on October 1. Guests made stops at historic sites like the Rialto Theater and 2022 Most Endangered site, the Will County Courthouse (pictured). Guests were also treated to a special tour of the Joliet Prison, led by Landmarks Illinois Regional Advocacy Manager Quinn Adamowski. See more pictures of the event below.

Pub Crawl Photos

Preservation Snapshots Lecture:

Economic Development in Illinois' Commercial Corridors -

A Panel Discussion

November 17

Landmarks Illinois’ preservation programs are helping people revitalize their historic storefronts, sparking welcomed economic development in our state’s commercial corridors. Join us for a panel discussion with recipients of a Landmarks Illinois loan, grant and preservation award to hear first-hand accounts of how people across Illinois are restoring commercial spaces inside historic buildings.

Preservation Awards are this Friday!

(In-person tickets sold out. Virtual tickets still available!)

Landmarks Illinois will host its 2022 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards Ceremony this Friday, November 4 at 6 p.m. at the Chicago Cultural Center. In-person tickets are SOLD OUT for the ceremony & cocktail reception. However, you can register for free to watch a remote, live presentation of the ceremony!

Virtual Awards Tickets

The Commission on Chicago Landmarks unanimously approved a $1.8 million Adopt-a-Landmark grant for Greenstone United Methodist Church in Pullman at its October 6 meeting. The grant will fund critical restoration to Greenstone Church’s distinctive green stone exterior. Landmarks Illinois also provided funding for restoration work at Greenstone Church through the Timuel D. Black, Jr. Grant Fund for Chicago’s South Side in January 2021.

Greenstone United Methodist Church was also one of two Chicago churches (along with Wicker Park Lutheran Church) to receive a 2022 National Fund for Sacred Places grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation & Partners for Sacred Places this month. Learn more here.

Restoration work on Landmarks Illinois 2014 Most Endangered site, the Millstadt Water Tower took place this month. A Preservation Heritage Grant from Landmarks Illinois in 2021 is helping fund the preservation project. Learn more.

On October 12, the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority held the first of hold three pre-RFI-submittal site visits of Lakeside Center in Chicago, which Landmarks Illinois Advocacy Manager Kendra Parzen and President & CEO Bonnie McDonald attended. The MPEA currently seeks Request for Information from those interested in redeveloping the 51-year-old Gene Summers & Helmut Jahn-designed building on Chicago's Lakefront. The next tours take place October 31 and November 7.

Landmarks Illinois President & CEO Bonnie McDonald was interviewed by Energy News Network about the use of geothermal heating and cooling systems at historic buildings, like the one employed at Glessner House in Chicago. Read the article here.

Landmarks Illinois Regional Advocacy Manager Quinn Adamowski and President & CEO Bonnie McDonald attended the introductory event for the Historical Preservation Society of the Illinois Black Panther Party on October 13 at the Chicago History Museum. Organizer Leila Wills hosted a distinguished panel of the Illinois Black Panther Party members, including Congressman Bobby Rush. Chuck D, front man of Public Enemy, moderated the panel. Landmarks Illinois former Director of Advocacy Lisa DiChiera worked with Wills in recent years to assist with the preservation of Chicagoland’s remaining Black Panther Party sites.

On October 15, Skyline Council members Amanda Marshall and Jeff Weisenberger and Bonnie McDonald volunteered at ReDEFINING REDLINING hosted by artist and recently named MacArthur Fellow, Amanda Williams and Ghian Foreman of the Emerald South Economic Development Collaborative. Williams’ artistic installation called on volunteers to plant 150,000 red tulip bulbs on several Chicago South Side vacant lots that will call attention to historic redlining practices and their long-term effects. See more photos here.

Landmarks Illinois Regional Advocacy Manager Quinn Adamowski was proud to partner with Illinois Main Street to help plan its annual conference October 18-20 in Bloomington and the awards dinner, which honored ten Main Street communities and four individual volunteers. Additional information about Illinois Main Street can be found at ilmainstreet.org.

On Friday, Oct. 21, Landmarks Illinois joined other preservation and community activists for a public meeting at Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ in Chicago to discuss the potential of making the church a national monument and historic site. Landmarks Illinois President & CEO Bonnie McDonald gave a statement at the meeting, attended by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, in support of creating the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley and Roberts Temple National Historic Site. The site would be "about more than bricks and mortar...It would be a monument to resistance, resoluteness, resilience, dignity and justice," McDonald said. Read the full statement here.

Bonnie McDonald was a panelist at the October 25 discussion on existing buildings and climate change, including making them more energy efficient and decarbonizing their energy sources. The panel was organized by Doug Farr, FAIA, of Farr Associates as part of the Passive Haus Institute of the U.S. (PHIUS) conference in Chicago. The panel was held at the Chicago Architecture Center, which is currently featuring an exhibit co-curated by CAC and Farr called “Energy Revolution.” The exhibit will be up until January 10, 2023.

Landmarks Illinois was saddened to hear of the passing of Charles “Chuck” Staples, a longtime member and a former board member and recipient of a 2017 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award. Read more here.