May is Preservation Month
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This year’s them invites everyone
to See! Save! And Celebrate the places that give meaning
to our lives and thereby achieve the status of history.
This is a great time to take stock in your community
and host an event or even attend a regular event and
make sure that history is on the agenda. In this new
era of social media, consider posting your images of
people, places and events on any of the numerous new
web places. Some of the more popular sites like Pinterest
and flickr and have tags for “historic preservation.”
You are also welcome to post on the Illinois Historic
Preservation Agency Facebook page. |
The Illinois Historic Preservation
Agency will host a full day advanced workshop for
National Register Historic Consultants on Thursday,
May 16, 2013 - click
for details
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What’s new: Rockford Peacock Brewery, Illinois’
First State Tax Credit Project
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The first phase of the renovation of the Peacock Brewery Building
in Rockford has been completed. In December 2012, Gary
Anderson & Assoc. Architects moved into their new
offices in this complex. Gary lead the design and development
team on this multi-year project. A banquet hall and
a riverfront boat dock facility have also been completed.
The overall program will ultimately include more office,
retail and residential spaces. This is the first project
in the state to qualify for the River’s Edge redevelopment
tax credits. This is a pilot preservation tax incentive
for historic properties in River’s Edge Redevelopment
Districts in five communities -- Aurora, Elgin, East
St. Louis, Peoria and Rockford. This pilot program goes
from 2012 through 2016. The credit is equal to 25% of
the qualified rehabilitation expenditures. The project
also qualified for the federal rehabilitation tax credits
and received TIF financing from the City of Rockford
for the parking lot improvements.
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What’s new: Concrete Restoration for Route
66 in Illinois
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The Concrete Restoration
for Route 66 in Illinois pavement study is now available
- click here. The study
brings together several components. The initial project
was a survey of the early pavement segments in Illinois,
with the goal of identifying components segments that
were eligible for the National Register of Historic
Places. The second part of the study was a technical
report on concrete repair and restoration methods, which
was prepared by Thornton Tomasetti Inc. of Chicago.
The first two parts of the study were funded by the
National Park Service Route 66 Heritage Corridor Program.
A third part of the study was petrographic analysis
of early concrete segments, which was funded by Illinois
IDOT and the Federal Railroad Administration. All of
these materials have now been combined into one report.
The Concrete Restoration for Route 66 in Illinois
report will be a useful guide to highway engineers
and advocates for preservation of historic Route 66
across the United States. It can serve as a planning
tool for state and local governments to promote preservation
and it can be a tourist’s guide for motorists
interested in the road. For the highway professional,
the recommendations and specifications for road maintenance
will be a useful desktop reference for a conservation-based
approach to highway maintenance, repair and restoration.
The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency championed
this study as a useful tool for other state historic
preservation offices, state transportation departments,
scenic byway associations and Route 66 enthusiasts
as a starting point for them to protect the Route
66 heritage corridor for the enjoyment of future generations.
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February, 2013
Randolph Tower, a preservation and terra cotta success
story
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Chicago:
Randolph Tower. The restored terra cotta exterior was
a major technical achievement as part of the conversion
of this building into downtown housing. |
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The completed renovation of Randolph Tower,
historically known as the Steuben Club, is a preservation
success story that highlights a great team effort. A determined
owner, a highly skilled design and construction team,
and a city committed to reducing public hazards and restoring
historic features were the core team. Added to this was
the federal historic rehabilitation tax credits, which
were critical to the financial package. This property
had fallen into vacancy as parts of the elaborate terra
cotta façade were falling into the street. After
several years, a new development team got the project
back on track, only to be delayed by the real estate downturn
of 2008. A complicated financial package was put together
while the design and construction team worked out the
details. The results all came to fruition when the property
retuned to active life as downtown housing in the fall
of 2012.
The preservation design and technical achievement of the
terra cotta restoration is particularly noteworthy. The
exterior terra cotta suffered from years of deferred maintenance.
A detailed examination of the entire exterior was undertaken
by Wiss, Janney, Elstner, Inc., working with Central Building
and Preservation as the contractor. During the course
of this assessment, the original shop drawings for the
terra cotta were located at the National Building Museum
in Washington DC. Through a cooperative agreement, the
owner and construction team funded a new scanning system
for the museum so that the documents could be copied for
reuse. The new scanning system will aid the museum and
other for future similar efforts. Using the original terra
cotta shop drawings, the Gladding McBean Company was able
to accurately reproduce the ground floor terra cotta,
which had been removed in 1955. The City of Chicago provided
TIF financial support for the exterior terra cotta work.
While the ground floor was being reconstructed, the upper
stories were getting systematic upgrades through repairs,
reinstallation and replacement terra cotta and composite
products. More than 12,000 pieces of terra cotta were
needed for this project. The completed exterior restoration
has truly restored a landmark to its place in the Chicago
skyline.
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Chicago IL Randolph
Tower, reconstructed ground floor terra cotta
at the entry (left), contrasted with the entry
before the recent renovation (right). |
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January 13, 2013
Discovering Dart
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| The new issue of Preservation Magazine features
a cover story on the “discovery” and historic
rehabilitation of a house by Illinois architect Edward
Dart. What makes this story particularly compelling is
that it could have been a “tear down.” The
property, in Glencoe, Illinois was purchased with this
as the goal. After the new owners started hearing from
local preservation advocates and others that this house
had a modernist pedigree worth preserving, the listened
and ultimately decided to renovate. They nominated to
project for local landmark status, engaged skilled preservation
consultants and now live in their renovated “mid-century”
landmarks. This was a win-win for everyone. In 2012, this
house received a Driehause Preservation Award from Landmarks
Illinois. The property also qualified for the Illinois
Property Tax Assessment Freeze program. The combination
of advocacy, education, and incentives all worked together.
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November 11, 2012
Lathrop Public Housing Project
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| The IHPA has been working for several years
to achieve preservation of the historic Lathrop Homes
in concert with HUD, CHA, Landmarks Illinois and Preservation
Chicago. Consultation on the redevelopment project is
required by section 106 of the National Historic Preservation
Act. The CHA/Lathrop housing development team gave a presentation
to IHPA staff on November 11, 2012. Three different schemes
were presented. The three schemes represent various levels
of historic preservation and were developed as part of
the planning effort to test several different scales of
intervention and to programming demands. The number of
housing units, the mix of unit types and the vehicular
access/parking are all critical elements of the larger
planning process. Video clips on the three schemes are
available on the Lathrop Community Partners web site.
The IHPA preliminary response to all the schemes was the
need for more comprehensive preservation of the existing
structures and landscape. Based upon this preliminary
review, the development team will produce a next generation
proposal for all interested parties. The Lathrop Housing
Complex was listed on the National Register of Historic
Places on Feb. 21, 2012. It is one of a few public housing
complexes in the nation that have been listed. The development
team is charged with a redevelopment program that has
rarely been attempted before in trying to mix different
housing types and while adding some new community-based
retails spaces. More information can be found here
at the project's web site. |
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November 2, 2012
IHSAC recommends ten nominations to the National
Register of Historic Places
The Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council (IHSAC) approved
the recommendation of ten properties for listing on the National
Register of Historic Places during the meeting on November
2, 2012. Following the Council’s approval, the nominations
will be “nominated” by the Amy Martin, the Illinois
State Historic Preservation Officer. The final step of the
process is the review by the Keeper of the National Register.
The properties will be officially listed on the National Register
of Historic Places once the record of the nomination approval
is published in the Federal Register. The recent agenda included
nine individual buildings and one “multiple property
documentation” for Ethic (European) Settlement in the
city of Chicago.
October 16, 2012
Walking Tour of Downtown Shelbyville
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| Anthony Rubano leads a walking
tour in front of the Shelby County Courthouse. |
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| On Oct. 16, 2012, Anthony Rubano, IHPA “pied
piper,” led a walking tour of downtown Shelbyville
and gave a public presentation on the historic preservation
tax incentives. Anthony has been leading tours in downtown
Springfield for several years and has spoken on the topic
of architectural walking tours at various Main Street
conferences. The Shelbyville event was very well attended
and represents one facet of the community’s effort
to get more engaged with historic preservation. The Shelbyville
National Register Historic District was designated in
1976, but there has been no active local preservation
organization. Last year Shelbyville underwent an assessment
program offered by Western Illinois University. One outcome
of this was an increased effort in historic preservation.
A local group that formed as a result of the assessment
program has been very active for almost two years. The
county board is now undertaking a historic rehabilitation
of the courthouse and the city is working with IHPA’s
local government coordinator Catherine O’Conner
to get a preservation ordinance. |
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October 12, 2012
Urbana Preservation Coordinator Rebecca Bird receives
the IAHPC achievement award for 2012
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| Rebecca Bird, the preservation coordinator
for the City of Urbana received the annual IAHPC achievement
award, presented by IHPA Local Government Coordinator
Catherine O’Connor. Over the last year, the Urbana
preservation commission has been extremely active. A partial
list of the accomplishments includes: |
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- In Lincolns Shadow Podcast Tour. In Lincoln’s
Shadow is a walking “pastcast” tour of
Abraham Lincoln related historic sites in Urbana.
These videos are also provided online.
http://www.urbanaillinois.us/pastcast
- 100-Most Historic Buildings in Urbana. The Historic
Preservation Commission adopted a list of the 100-most
historic buildings with public input and lots of discussion
about significance. Funded with an IHPA grant. Then
with a follow up IHPA grant, created an online guide
to all 100 properties with architectural and historical
descriptions of each. http://urbanaillinois.us/residents/historic-urbana/100mostsignificant
- Modern Urbana Homes Tour, May 5, 2012. Worked cooperatively
with the University of Illinois’ architecture
program to organize a Modern Urbana Homes Tour which
had more than 400 participants. http://urbanaillinois.us/node/2921
- Historic Resource Survey Digitization. Working
cooperatively with the Champaign County Archives and
the Illinois Secretary of State’s office, most
of the 1,300+ historic resource survey forms completed
for Urbana properties have been digitized and made
available online through the Illinois Digital Archives.
http://www.idaillinois.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/ufl
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October 4, 2012
Modern era Post Office Survey
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| The Chicago Post Office
designed my architect Mies van der Rohe is one of many
modern era post office around the country that has already
been determined eligible for the National Register of
Historic Places. |
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| IHPA’s Deputy SHPO Anne Haaker is
the National Conference of State Historic Preservation
Officers (NCSHPO) lead reviewer in the development of
a National Register of Historic Places multiple property
document on mid-20th century postal facilities. The document
contains the history of the postal service from 1940 to
1971 along with description of various types of post offices
and other facilities. It has been more than thirty years
since the U.S. Postal Service completed its initial survey
of its historic facilities. Since that time, a whole generation
of structures passed the fifty year mark, the “temporal
boundary” for the National Register of Historic
Places. Updating the USPS survey has been needed for quite
a while. To facilitate this responsibility, the USPS hired
the URS Corporation and sought assistance from NCSHPO.
The NCSHPO team finished its task the first week of October.
The new documents will soon be available for public usage
on the USPS web site. These documents tell the story of
suburbanization of the nation and construction and adaptation
of postal facilities. |
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October 3, 2012
Will County Preservation Commission Celebrates 20th
Anniversary
 The
Will County Preservation Commission marked its twentieth
anniversary at the commission’s regular meeting
on Oct 3, 2012. Will County was the second county
government in Illinois to have a historic preservation
commission. The commission has been very active in
survey and designation. More than 75% of the townships
in the county have been surveyed. The commission has
designated more than forty individual properties including
barns, bridges, cemeteries, school and houses. All
of this work is part of an effort to better manage
the residential and commercial growth in the area.
In addition to the county program, there are nine
communities in the county with local preservation
commissions. Congratulations to executives, staff
and residents of Will County for this milestone and
for their leadership in historic preservation.
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| http://willcountylanduse.com/purpose-historic-preservation |
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September 14, 2012
Climate Change and Preservation
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| Last year, 220,000 tons of CO2 were
avoided in Illinois because of SHPO programs. |
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| Each year, IHPA prepares a report to
the Illinois Green Governments Coordinating Council
about the environmental impacts of the Agency’s
operations. This year’s report featured a new
calculation – the avoided impact of not constructing
new buildings because historic buildings were reused.
Not only were these historic buildings reused, but these
were also buildings that were renovated to make them
more energy efficient. Several noteworthy projects in
the past year were also LEED certified, further recognition
of historic preservation meeting modern green standards.
Each year, historic preservation programs utilized
by IHPA promote the renovation of several historic hundred
buildings across the state. Some of these properties
receive the federal rehabilitation tax credits or the
state property tax assessment freeze. Other properties
come under our review because of other state or federal
programs that are meeting their historic preservation
responsibilities. The outcome of these programs results
in millions of dollars of reinvestment in properties
that needed substantial rehabilitation to extend their
useful life. Renovation and renewal, rather than demolition
and replacement yields great environmental benefits,
and we have some new tools to calculate this.
In the Spring of 2012, the National Trust for Historic
Preservation released a new technical study –
The
Greenest Building: Quantifying the Environmental Value
of Building Reuse (see IHPA report from April 22,
2012). Using data from this report and estimating the
total square footage of building renovation during the
past year we were able to calculate the CO2 savings
of “non building.” This is technically known
as “avoided impact.” The CO2 was not produced
because new bricks were not fired in kilns, new concrete
was not manufactured from stone, and all the mobilization
and effort to make a new building did not take place.
In addition to the CO2 savings, a huge amount of waste
was avoided because a historic building was not demolished.
Furthermore, most historic buildings are sited where
the infrastructure is already in place, so historic
building renovation is “smart growth.” The
total “avoided impact” of 220,000 tons of
CO2 is the equivalent of taking 39,100 cars off the
road for a year. All of these factors are why we support
the preservation claim that, “the greenest building
is the one that already exists.”
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August 24, 2012
Rosenwald Court
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| Chicago IL : Rosenwald Apartments (Michigan Blvd
Garden Apartments) |
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| Rosenwald Court in Chicago’s
South Side is now under review for the federal tax credit
program. The project is named after the original developer,
Julius Rosenwald, who was the president of Sears, Roebuck
& Co. This 1920s apartment complex was the architectural
prototype for the federal housing projects of the 1930s.
The property was listed on the National Register in
1985 and received a moderate rehab back then but was
closed some years ago. The property has been vacant
for and was identified as a “most endangered”
properties by Landmarks Illinois. Over the last decade,
several different entities have attempted to put this
project together. The new project represents an investment
of $ 80 million and will create 331 family and senior
affordable housing units. |
August 2, 2012
New state laws supports school preservation
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| El Paso – Gridley High School in El Paso,
Illinois Image: Landmarks Illinois |
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| Gov. Patrick Quinn signed Senate Bill 639 on August
2, 2012, which officially changed the state of Illinois
funding priorities to allow the renovation of “aging
schools.” This change is critical to historic
preservation, as the previous law specifically stated
that priority for state school funding was that of “replacing
aging buildings.” Because of this prior law, school
districts in Illinois evaluating older and historic
buildings were implicated directed towards new buildings
rather than rehabilitation. The change in the law doesn’t
prohibit the funding of new buildings, but it levels
the playing field for evaluation so that rehabilitation
or new construction decisions are not made based upon
funding eligibility. Landmarks Illinois and AIA Illinois
were both instrumental in supporting this change to
the law.
Click
here to view news coverage of this story. |
August 1, 2012
Morrison, Illinois is the 76th Certified Local Government
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| One of Morrison’s noteworthy houses along
the Lincoln Highway. |
| Source: http://www.city-data.com/picfilesv/picv11135.php |
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| The National Park Service officially designated Morrison
as Illinois’ 76 Certified Local Government (CLG)
on August 1, 2012. Morrison is the county seat of Whiteside
County in northwestern Illinois. The town has a great
collection of 19th century houses along West Lincolnway,
the path of the Lincoln Highway in the early 20th century.
The town’s Main Street runs parallel to the Lincoln
highway and has an very collection of mid-19th century
commercial buildings along a fairly narrow street. Since
1998 the City has designated 20 local landmarks, ranging
from the Annan Grist Mill on west Lincolnway to the Carlton
House Museum (circa 1860) now located at 219 Main Street.
Main Street business Bob Vaugh, the newest member of the
Morrison Historic Commission, views the CLG status as
a new opportunity to strengthen the local preservation
effort. The Historic Preservation Commission and the Mayor’s
office are working with IHPA to enable owners of designated
historic property to take advantage of the Property Tax
Assessment Freeze program for rehabilitation projects
which meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards.
According to City Administrator Jim Wise, “The City
is proud to have obtained this designation. The Certified
Local Government status will help establish Morrison,
Illinois as a destination for visitors and tourists. It
will also provide new opportunities for economic development
and further the efforts to preserve the historical and
cultural heritage of our community.” |
July 29, 2012
On Target – a landmark revived!
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| The grand opening of the new Target store in the landmark
Carson Pirie Scott store in Chicago took place on July
29, 2012. This project put a major modern retailer back
in this landmark department store, one of the most important
buildings ever designed by Louis Sullivan. Target is the
tenant of the first and second floors in a project that
actually combines eight separate buildings along State
and Wabash streets. This use combines a great program
with a design and preservation success story. This is
the first of a new generation of center city Target stores
and the first one to be located in an historic building.
The Carson, Pirie Scott store is a National Historic Landmark
and a designated city of Chicago landmark. The city designation
includes much of the interior, with the open first floor
volume accented by column capitals designed by Sullivan
with his signature florid style. Inserting all the necessary
modern systems into the building while not impacting these
elements was a technical and design achievement.
The overall Sullivan Center complex is the largest
historic tax credit project in Illinois with a budget
of more $220 million. In addition to the federal historic
tax credits, the project also received city TIF funding,
which helped with the restoration of major exterior
features of the building, including the replication
of the missing cornice and ground floor cast iron restoration.
The credit list for this project is extensive, with
Joseph Freed and Assoc. as the developer. Harboe Architects
was the lead preservation architect for the project,
including the cornice construction and first floor cast
iron restoration. RSP Architects are the architects
for the store renovation along with the Target design
team, including Mary Shaffer and Heather Sexton. Chicago
Landmarks staff Cindy Roubik and Eleanor Gorski and
National Park Service staff Kaaren Staveteig made insightful
contributions. IHPA Chief Architect Carol Dyson lead
the Illinois SHPO team in recommending the project for
federal tax credit certification. Anthony Rubano, IHPA,
Project Designer, contributed to an earlier stage. |
July 24, 2012
Rock Island launches renovation web site.
http://renovateqc.org
The Rock Island Preservation Commission and City of Rock
Island, in partnership with the non-profit Rock Island Preservation
Society, have established a new website, http://renovateqc.org,
which informs and supports owners with appropriate maintenance
and rehabilitation techniques for their historic properties.
The website includes renovation tips, finding and recommending
contractors, a discussion forum, calendar, resource links,
and project showcases.
The idea for the website came from a discussion in late 2010
by the Rock Island Preservation Commission. “We were
challenged by our youngest commissioner to create a method
of useful outreach and education that is accessible to a younger
audience,” said Jill Doak, a city planner who staffs
the Preservation Commission. “That discussion prompted
a survey of online resources for inspiration, and we landed
on a website for the Des Moines Rehabbers Club, which was
largely the model for RenovateQC.org. This type of website,
with its local focus, is fairly unique.”
The website was created from a Certified Local Government
grant to the City of Rock Island from the U.S. Department
of the Interior and administered by the IHPA. The Total project
cost was $10,546, with $7,382 provided through the grant.
July 20, 2012
Springfield – The Grill is Gone!
Removing an architectural “slipcover” from a
downtown building provides an opportunity for history to be
revealed again. The 1960s fad to modernize commercial buildings
with light weight grills and panels was one response to a
market for “newness.” Some of these were quite
utilitarian and only a few every rose to a level of architectural
merit. The new screen applied to this structure kept the original
windows in place and allowed natural light and air into the
upper floor offices. This was seen as an inexpensive way to
“update” the building and did leave most of the
original façade intact. The building’s cornice
had been removed years before this. Unfortunately, this new
design also made the entire building a giant pigeon roost,
which has vexed the owner and the downtown for years.
This week, the new owner completed the removal of the screen
wall. The original brick, stone and windows are all there,
although somewhat affected by pigeon droppings. The Ferguson
building was noted as a non-contributing building in the Central
Springfield Historic District when this area was added to
the district in 1990. With the upper floor façade cover
removed, the National Register nomination can now be amended
and the building will gain its status as a historic building.
This will allow the owner to claim the federal rehabilitation
tax credits.
Click
here to watch a time lapse video of the removal
July 13, 2012
Route 66 pavement restoration study underway
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Pontiac IL - Route 66 mural
at the Illinois Route 66 Museum |
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| The Illinois Historic Preservation
Agency received a grant from the National Park Service
Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program to identify historic
sections of the original Route 66 pavement and make
technical recommendations for its restoration. The survey
of original segments has been completed and the technical
study is now underway. On July 13, 2012, IHPA Deputy
SHPO Anne Haaker met with Amy Lamb Woods of Thornton
Tomasetti, a Chicago-based engineering firm. Amy has
extensive experience in concrete restoration and will
lead the technical study on pavement restoration. The
results will be published on the IHPA and NPS Route
66 web sites later this year. |
June 29, 2012
IHSAC recommends five properties for the National
Register
The Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council (IHSAC) approved
the recommendation of five properties for listing on the National
Register of Historic Places during the meeting on June 29,
2012. Following the Council’s approval, the nominations
will be “nominated” by the Amy Martin, the Illinois
State Historic Preservation Officer. The final step of the
process is the review by the Keeper of the National Register.
The properties will be officially listed on the National Register
of Historic Places once the record of the nomination approval
is published in the Federal Register. The agenda before the
council contained only five properties, but they represent
two very different historic districts, two very different
single-family homes and one cemetery chapel with its crematory.
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Macomb IL - William S. Bailey
House 1887 |
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| The William S. Bailey House is an excellent example
of Queen Anne residential architecture in Macomb IL.
Located just a few blocks off the town square, this
house has been well preserved and now serves as a community
meeting facility. |
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Chicago IL – Auburn
Gresham Bungalow Historic District |
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| Chicago is the home of literally thousands of brick
bungalow’s that occupy a great swath of the city’s
west and south side. The Auburn Gresham Bungalow Historic
District is one of several intact clusters of this ubiquitous
building type that will be recognized in the National
Register.
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Chicago IL – West
Loop LaSalle Street Historic District |
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| The LaSalle Street corridor has long been recognized
as the core of the city’s financial district,
but the area will now be recognized as a historic district.
The street has a number of noteworthy buildings that
have previously been listed on the National Register
individually. The new district takes in both sides of
LaSalle Street from the Chicago River bridge at the
north to the Chicago Board of Trade Building at the
south. |
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Rockford IL - Greenwood
Chapel and Crematory 1891 |
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| The Greenwood Chapel and Cemetery is an excellent
example of Romanesque Revival architecture using the
buff-colored limestone common to northern Illinois.
The structure was altered to include a crematory in
the 1920s, which continues in use today. |
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Rockford IL - Kenneth and
Phyllis Laurent House
Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect 1949 |
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| The Laurent House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
for Kenneth and Phyllis Laurent. Ken was a WWI vet who
used a wheel chair. Wright’s one-story Usonian
style house was adopted to provide better accessibility,
a major design innovation in 1949. The Laurent’s
lived in this house until 2011. The house and furnishings
were subsequently purchased by a local foundation and
will make it available for public tours in 2013. |
June 22, 2012
Archaeology Summer Field Schools around Illinois
It’s summertime, and that means that archaeologists
from around the world have summer field school programs. Illinois,
a state with extremely important archaeology resources is
a frequent location for these summer “digs.” This
year, field school operations are underway at several state
historic sites. Cahokia Mound, the World Heritage Site in
Collinsville is hosting an international team from the University
of Bologna in Italy. Emerald Mound, near Lebanon, Illinois,
is the second only to Cahokia Mound in size and is hosting
a team from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
and the University of Indiana. Kinkaid Mound, in Massac County
is hosting a team from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
Through these summer field school programs professionals and
students will advance their skills while adding to our collective
knowledge of our past.
Emerald Mound, near Lebanon IL. An archaeology team
from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
and the University of Indiana are part of a summer
field school team investigating this important site
from the Mississippian era.
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June 2, 2012
A group of enthusiastic historic preservationists attended
a day-long workshop on basic cemetery restoration on June
2, 2012. The goal was to learn correct and acceptable techniques
in locating, elevating and resetting headstones and markers.
Hal Hassen, an archaeologist with the Illinois Department
of Natural Resources, and Dawn Cobb, a physical anthropologist
with the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, began with
a discussion of the Human Skeletal Remains Protection Act.
This Act protects all unregistered graves, grave artifacts,
and grave markers. This law offers protection of grave sites
from all disturbances including, but not limited to, cultivation,
excavation, vandalism, removal, defacement, or desecration
(20 ILCS 3440/1) After three hours of education using the
Illinois
Historic Cemetery Preservation Handbook, the group reconvened
after lunch at the Old Macomb Cemetery on Wigwam Hollow Road.
During the afternoon session, eleven headstones were excavated,
elevated, cleaned and reset using the established techniques
based on “Do no harm! The participants in this workshop
are charged with educating volunteers in their respective
communities to adhere to the correct methods of cemetery restoration.
The two Macomb participants, Marty Fischer and Gil Belles,
will be calling for volunteers to help with the restoration
and preservation of the Old Macomb Cemetery. Participants
came from Hanover Park, a Chicago suburb, central Illinois,
and southern Illinois, including two from Macomb. A high school
Girl Scout from Salem was planning her major project.
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| Workshop participants expose and excavate
a headstone at the Old Macomb Cemetery |
May 24, 2012 Park Ridge
is the 75th Certified Local Government in Illinois
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The Pickwick Theater
is the most well known landmark in Park Ridge. The vaudeville
and movie theater was designed by William Zook and opened
in 1928. It was listed on the National Register in 1975.
The theater gained national fame when movie critics
Siskel and Ebert used is as the opening venue for their
movie review television program. |
The National Park Service officially designated
Park Ridge as Illinois’ 75 Certified Local Government
(CLG) on March 24, 2012. Since the Park Ridge Historic Preservation
Commission was established two years ago, the group has eagerly
pursued preservation activities within the community. The
Commission has recognized seven local landmarks, including
the Pickwick Theater Building, the Town of Maine Cemetery,
the Alfonso Iannelli Home & Studio, the Helen Unseth House,
the Walter Clute House, as well as two other residential homes.
Additionally, the Commission has created an “honor roll”
for 100-year old homes in the community, and has developed
an annual historic preservation poster contest for local third
graders. The Commission has also started a photo inventory
of significant historic structures. On becoming Illinois’
75th CLG, the Park Ridge HP Commission looks forward to continuing
to maintain the historic integrity of Park Ridge and preserving
the City's rich past.
May 21, 2012
Historic Architectural
Resources – Geographic
Information System
Click here to USE HARGIS
HARGIS update launched:
A greatly improved and updated on-line mapping and research
tool for information about the historic resources in Illinois
is now available. The “soft launch” of HARGIS
took place on May 14, 2012. The new system is fully available
to the public, but during the “soft launch” period
we are asking users to comment on the features and effectiveness
of this new system. At the end of the initial use, we will
be able to do some final corrections on the system operation.
What information is available online?
Data and scanned photographs and background documentation
for almost 78,000 buildings, structures, objects, sites, and
districts in Illinois has been logged into HARGIS. These properties
were surveyed either as part of a National Register nomination,
through the Illinois Historic Structures Survey, the Illinois
Landmarks Survey, the Illinois Department of Transportation’s
Historic Bridge Survey, and the Chicago Historical Resources
Survey. There are many other additional surveys that need
to be added to the HARGIS database and there are many older
listings where properties have changed or been demolished,
which have not been updated on this system.
Special note for Archaeology
HARGIS does not identify specific known archaeological areas,
which are exempt from general public access under the state
Freedom of Information Act. (They may be accessed at our offices
in Springfield by professionally qualified archaeologists
for legitimate research purposes or by property owners.)
Special note about Chicago:
The City
of Chicago online Zoning Map includes the city’s
landmarks and survey information. The data on the city’s
map is more recent than the data on HARGIS and is also integrated
with more city information than HARGIS.
May 1, 2012
May is Preservation Month: “Discover
America’s Hidden Gems”
Each year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation selects
a theme for preservation month as a promotional tool for local
communities and preservation organizations across the country.
This year’s theme, Discover America’s Hidden Gems,
invites communities to recognize special resources in their
communities. Landmarks
Illinois, as the state-wide advocacy organization for
preservation in Illinois, has created a special Facebook page
for you to reveal your own “hidden gems.” Please
share your stories about “Hidden Gems” in Illinois.
A “hidden gem” recommendation from the IHPA staff:
The Cloud State Bank in McLeansboro IL.
Designed by the architecture firm of Reid & Reid
of Evansville, Indiana, the building features elaborate
ornamentation and complexity beyond the confines of the
florid Second Empire style it was designed in. Among the
more prominent details are “blocked” or banded
columns, a segmental central pediment, round-headed windows,
use of red brick and white stone, richly ornamented frieze
and several cornices, outward-splaying chimneys, and a
Mansard roof pierced by dormers and topped by a “bull’s
eye” clock tower covered with zinc shingles and
crowned with wrought iron work. Inside, an ornate vault,
which at one point was the only enclosed room in the entire
bank, still remains. Of added importance is that the iron,
tin and zinc work were executed by the company of J.B.
Mesker & Son of Evansville, Indiana, whose sons later
created their own companies, George L. Mesker & Company
and Mesker Brothers Iron Works, and popularized galvanized
sheet-metal cornices and entire building facades throughout
America’s small towns, including McLeansboro. Built
entirely by private funds, the building has served the
public almost continuously since its completion. Few small
towns in Illinois can boast of such a monumental and elegant
commercial building. The Cloud State Bank was listed on
the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. |
April 22, 2012 Celebrate
Earth Day – April 22nd; New evidence: Old is the New
Green.
 This
spring, the National Trust for Historic Preservation released
a major technical report on Building Reuse, which provides
in-depth information on the environmental benefits of
reusing existing buildings. The study, entitled “The
Greenest Building: Quantifying the Value of Building Reuse,”
applies modern Life Cycle assessment (LCA) methodologies
to this topic. The study compares the reuse of an existing
building with the construction of a comparable new building
for six different building types in four different weather
zones. The results vary somewhat, but the overall conclusion
is that it takes decades for a new building to save enough
resources, particularly energy resources, to make up for
the resources required to construct it in the first place.
If anything, the study methodology errs on the side of
new buildings, so that critics of building preservation
can’t pick at the details. The historic preservation
community has needed this study for years, as the topic
was last explored back in 1980. Kudos to the National
Trust, the Preservation Green Lab, and the consulting
team for this timely and impressive report. “The
greenest building really is the one that already exists!” |
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