| |
In
the more than 30 years since its founding, it has gone on to save
countless architectural and historic treasures throughout the state of
Illinois. The
organization has established a variety of programs that continue to facilitate,
educate, and promote historic preservation.
Landmarks Illinois' founding mission was to stop the demolition of significant buildings in
downtown Chicago. |
|
Chicago Stock Exchange Building c. 1920 |
|
Landmarks
Illinois'
mission today is the same, only broader
— the scope and geography now embrace architecturally and
historically significant archeological sites, structures, and historic districts
in all the cities, towns and rural areas of Illinois. The list of
accomplishments is impressive. |
|
| |
SAVE
BUILDINGS
After
leading the charge but failing to save the old Stock Exchange, the
fledgling organization improved its ability to garner popular,
political, and media support. Through other more successful advocacy
efforts, resources such as the Marquette Building, the Chicago Theater,
the Reliance Building, and St. Mary of the Angels Church in Chicago, as
well as the Bloomington Courthouse Square, Oakbrook's Mayslake, and the
Zimmerman farm archeological site are among those that have been saved
for future generations.
|
Chicago Theatre Interior,
Chicago. Photograph by Barry Rustin
Henry Demerest Lloyd House, Winnetka. Photograph by Thomas Yanul |
|
An
untested preservation strategy was used to save the Henry Demarest Lloyd
house in Winnetka in 1976. After the property was donated to Landmarks
Illinois, a
conservation easement was placed on it and it was then resold to private
owners. With a conservation easement all subsequent owners are bound in
perpetuity to preserve and maintain the critical historic features of
the property. Landmarks Illinois monitors their performance to ensure long-term
preservation. Today
Landmarks Illinois
holds easements on over 400 properties. That count
doesn't include Fort Sheridan where an easement program
is an integral
part of its successful preservation. Fort Sheridan is a former army base
whose 96 historic structures are being converted to single
family homes, townhouses, and apartments.
In neighborhoods with limited economic resources and a prior history of
inappropriate alterations to housing stock, a private owner willing to
step up to the plate can be hard to find. In such cases, Landmarks
Illinois has taken
on the role of owner and developer. Pulling together skilled
professionals and volunteers, the organization rehabilitated three
houses in the Tri-Taylor Historic District as well as two of the Frank
Lloyd Wright-designed Waller Apartments. The finished residences were
resold to moderate-income homeowners.
|
FACILITATE
PRESERVATION
With
the complex legislative and financial system that makes up our economy,
buildings can be lost because existing regulations and tax implications
encourage demolition and new construction rather than preservation.
Throughout its history, Landmarks Illinois has been active in sponsoring legislation
that removes obstacles and establishes incentives for preservation.
The
first 5-year effort led to the establishment of the Illinois Historic
Preservation Agency in 1976. Charged with
administering statewide preservation planning, landmark designations,
historic resource surveys, and review of the rehabilitation of historic
buildings to ensure that they meet preservation standards, the agency
has become a vital force for preservation in the state. Landmarks
Illinois supports
and cooperates with the state without losing sight of the need to push
and prod it to even greater action at critical times.
|
Reliance Building (the
Burnham Hotel) Chicago. Photograph by Hedrich-Blessing
Chana Schoolhouse, Ogle County 1998
Endangered Building Grant Recipient |
|
The
panoply of tax incentives for the rehabilitation of historic buildings
has grown over the years and Landmarks Illinois has been the initiator and/or ardent
supporter of much of the enabling legislation. The
statewide property tax freeze for single family homes, later expanded to
include up to six unit owner occupied residences, and the Cook County
Class L incentive which extends property tax relief to commercial
properties were major achievements of Landmarks Illinois. Hundreds of homeowners
throughout the state have benefited from the property tax assessment
freeze, while early results of the Class L program successes include the
Crowne Plaza Hotel (formerly Allerton) and the Wheeler-Kohn Mansion both
in Chicago.
Tax
benefits may not provide enough dollars to make a preservation project
economically feasible. Landmarks Illinois established a revolving
Preservation Fund in 1976
after the sale of the Lloyd property. Over the years the Fund has
awarded low-interest loans for needy projects throughout the state.
In
addition to being the catalyst for the already mentioned Tri-Taylor and
Waller projects,
another
loan program was the Neighborhood Initiative. Loans of up to $10,000 were
made available for homes on Chicago boulevards. One of the buildings
to benefit was the Ida B. Wells house, residence of the late 19th/early
20th century black reformer.
|
Unfortunately, even with favorable interest loans, the economics of some
projects just don't pencil out. Through small grants to buildings in
critical need, Landmarks Illinois' Endangered Building Grants program offered a way
to fund some crucial step towards saving an important property for a
community. The need for grant money continues to be so important that
the organization was successful in the 1999 legislative season in seeing
a statewide Heritage Trust Fund established. However, the program’s
funding was eliminated in the last year of the Ryan Administration.
Given current budget constraints, this funding is not likely to be
reinstated anytime soon.
In 2004 to help fill this void,
Landmarks Illinois
created the Preservation Heritage Fund, into which the Endangered Building Grant
program was folded, to provide greater assistance to preserve important
structures and sites throughout Illinois. The Heritage Fund will help provide
bricks-and-mortar assistance as well as help fund studies, surveys, and building
assessments. The fund will also enable Landmarks Illinois to target long-term preservation
initiatives that are linked to economic development, affordable housing, and
neighborhood character.
EDUCATE
Citizens
of Chicago and Illinois are vastly more aware today than they were in
1971 of the wealth of architectural and historic resources throughout
the state, thanks in no small measure to Landmarks Illinois. Beginning with the first
publication of the Loop Inventory in 1975, through
technical publications on historic building materials, and design
guidelines for rehabilitation of historic buildings, Landmarks Illinois
seeks to educate. Tours such as the Sacred Places Tour delighted
participants to the wonders of ecclesiastical architecture.
Landmarks Illinois' Preservation Snapshots, a
monthly lecture series, offers attendees a wealth of architectural and
preservation knowledge. For over 20 years the
organization-sponsored statewide preservation conference has brought
together preservation experts with those seeking preservation advice.
Held in historic communities throughout the state, it has increased
awareness of important but too frequently overlooked historic resources
in the smaller cities and towns of Illinois.
PROMOTE
Sometimes
educational efforts need a boost through more aggressive marketing and
promotion. The Ten Most Endangered Historic Places program, begun by
Landmarks Illinois in 1995, draws attention to the most critical preservation problems
faced by the state each year.
|
Central Park Bandshell, Orion. 2004
Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award recipient for
Project of the Year
|
|
The public announcement in Springfield and
the accompanying media excitement has contributed to saving an array of
historic resources that reflect the richness of the state: the Grand
Valley of the Kickapoo archeological site, the Skokie North Shore train
station, the Wagner farm in Glenview, and the Frank Lloyd
Wright-designed Glasner house in Glencoe, among many others.
Everyone
likes attention for the good things they do and preservationists are no
exception. The Preservation Awards Program, begun in 1991, honors
projects that promote preservation in a variety of ways — model
rehabilitation projects, media coverage, educational efforts, advocacy,
community leadership, and the Preservation Project of the Year. Now
sponsored by and called the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation
Awards, recent winners have included the Hard Rock Hotel (formerly
Carbide and Carbon building) in Chicago, the Coronado Theatre in
Rockford, and Orion’s Central Park Bandshell.
|
THE
FUTURE
Landmarks Illinois has grown over the last 30
years into a mature, stable, not-for-profit organization. Although it
has never lost sight of its vision, it is no longer the scrappy
organization it started out as. Protests, picket lines, and lawsuits are
still used as effective tools, but so are diplomacy and compromise.
Today government officials, developers, and property owners recognize
its expertise and listen to what it says. Landmarks Illinois operates with a
broad-based statewide membership, a strong board of community leaders,
loyal donors, a professional staff, and a sound endowment fund.
Preservation in Illinois has come a long way since 1971 but the job is
never over. Landmarks Illinois intends to be around for the next 30 years and for
years after that. Its goal is to ensure that the architectural and
historic resources of Illinois endure so that future citizens may enjoy
the physical presence of their cultural heritage.
by Victoria Granacki,
former Landmarks Illinois Board Member
Landmarks Illinois Staff
President: David Bahlman
Advocacy Director: Lisa DiChiera
Preservation Easement Program Director: Andrew Fisher
Preservation Fund & Easement
Coordinator: Suzanne Germann Director of Development &
Marketing: Justin Lyons
Office
Administrator:
Mina McGuire
Preservation Planning Director: James Peters
Membership Director: Marija D. Rich
Preservation Programs Director : Eiliesh Tuffy
Farnsworth House Site Director: Whitney French
Landmarks Illinois Board of Directors
|
|
Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois Board
of Directors
Current for the fiscal year July 1, 2007 – June 30, 2008
|
|
BOARD OFFICERS |
|
|
Rolf Achilles
Geoffrey A. Koss
David A. Bahlman
Frieda Ireland
Vincent L. Michael
Richard F. Friedman
William W. Tippens |
Chairman of the Board
Vice-Chairman of the Board
President
Treasurer
Secretary & Chairman, Preservation Issues Committee
General Counsel
Chairman, Preservation Fund & Easement Committee |
|
|
|
|
BOARD MEMBERS |
|
|
|
Robert P.B. Angevin
Joseph M. Antunovich
Susan Snell Barnes
John W. Barriger
Julie Bauer
Heather Becker
Alicia Berg
John F. Blacketor
Gavin E. Campbell
Scott Cockerham
Kevin L. Freeman
Madeline Gelis
Shelley Gorson |
Delph A. Gustitus
Bruce B. Grieve
Catherine S. Handelsman
David Hernandez
Harry J. Hunderman
Anthony Johnson
Kathryn Johnson
Marilyn P. Johnson
Yvette M. LeGrand
Meredith Mack
James E. Mann
Judith P. McBrien
James E. McLean |
Craig Mizushima
Paul B. O’Kelly
Charles Pipal
Thomas J. Rossiter
Judith A. Samuel
John H. Stassen
Ellen Stoner
Martin C. Tangora
William W. Tippens
Anne B. Voshel
David Woodhouse
|
|
|
|
|
|
EX-OFFICIO |
|
|
|
Richard A.
Miller |
Chairman Emeritus |
|
|
|
|
|
|
