Landmarks Illinois

Landmarks Illinois is proud to launch "The Relevancy Guidebook," a manual aimed at making historic preservation more effective, inclusive and just. Written by Landmarks Illinois President and CEO Bonnie McDonald from extensive research, including 130 interviews with people deeply involved in preservation and the built environment, it identifies preservation's challenges and actionable ways to increase its relevance in a changing world. Preservation can help solve society's pressing needs, with the potential to create affordable housing, fight climate change, promote justice and equity, generate new jobs, and more. Historic places give context to events that have shaped our history. Destroying them can untether communities; saving them can provide knowledge, repair, and hope. "The Relevancy Guidebook" is designed to help make it possible for anyone to protect the places that matter to them and their community. Download it for free at https://lnkd.in/es5Df32c. Our thanks to the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation and National Trust for Historic Preservation for their support. #HistoricPreservation #Preservation #LandmarksIllinois

Join us for the final Preservation Snapshots Lecture in our fall series, featuring Al Watts and the Alexander Bros. Blacksmith Shop in Geneva, IL! 🛠️ 📅 Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024 ⏰ 12:00 on Zoom 🔗https://ow.ly/Wuvl50TIufK This 1846 landmark, once on our Most Endangered list, faces demolition again. Learn about its history and current preservation efforts with Al Watts of Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley and our Advocacy Manager, Kendra Parzen. Don't miss this update on an irreplaceable piece of Geneva’s industrial past!

Earlier this month, Landmarks Illinois responded to a call for comments from the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation on potential alternatives to meet requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act’s Section 106 review process for federally-owned buildings or those that require federal permits or funding. The Advisory Council is currently exploring possible ways to streamline federal historic preservation review, specifically for projects that relate to housing, climate-smart buildings and climate-friendly transportation. To read our full letter to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, click below. https://ow.ly/YBUf50TSW62 You can also view comments submitted by other organizations here: https://ow.ly/eoM750TSW5Y

Please join us in welcoming Kenna Hogan to the Landmarks Illinois team! Kenna is our new Development Assistant. She looks forward to building relationships with the members and donors of Landmarks Illinois that make our mission possible. 👋 Before joining Landmarks Illinois, she spent nine years working in fundraising at museums in her home state of Texas. Her interest in Historic Preservation began when she interned at the Buffalo Gap Historic Village in Buffalo Gap, Texas. The Village is a museum containing a collection of historic buildings representing the history and material culture of this region of Texas. * This internship was a formative experience, and following the completion of her education, she spent five years of her professional career working at the Village in visitor services, education and development. Kenna received a Bachelor of Arts in History and Heritage and Cultural Tourism from McMurry University in Abilene, Texas, and a Master of Arts in International Cultural Heritage Management from Durham University in the United Kingdom.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 2024 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards on Friday, October 18, at the Apollo's 2000 in Little Village. Our annual awards ceremony recognized exceptional efforts in preserving, restoring and revitalizing historic places in Illinois! Congratulations again to the 2024 award recipients. Check out photos from the event:https://ow.ly/mo5q50TRcBo . . . . . #LIPreservationAwards #2024LIAwardWinner #LI2024PreservationAwards #LIDrieHausAwards #2024LIDriehausAwards #apollos2000

Members of the Landmarks Illinois team, including Director of Reinvestment Suzanne Germann, were thrilled to attend a groundbreaking ceremony for the East Garfield Park nonprofit, BandWith, on October 10. We awarded a $500,000 loan through our Reinvestment Loan Program to BandWith to help it transform the Loyal Casket Building into a vibrant community performing arts center! This exciting project will create much-needed space for free youth arts programs, sound engineering and more, further enriching Chicago's West Side. Check out our Instagram reel of the BandWith Drumline! Learn more about BandWith’s journey 🔗 Reinvestment Program information🔗https://ow.ly/wx0350TQe0w #LandmarksIllinois #EastGarfieldPark #CommunityArts #HistoricPreservation #BandWith

TONIGHT! Can't wait to see everyone there, if you were not able to attend this year, join us for our livestream at 6:30 pm. 🔗https://ow.ly/kR7t50TOL3Q Celebrate the winners of the 2024 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards🎉 We will proudly honor our nine 2024 award-winning preservation efforts and the people who made them possible at the Apollo's 2000 venue, one of Chicago's newest landmarks! . . . . . #LIPreservationAwards #LI2024PreservationAwards #2024LIAwardWinner #LIDreihausAwards #2024LIDriehausAwards #elgin #altopass #chicago #rockford #carterville #woodstock

“When ‘Lost Chicago’ was first published ... city leaders were still seeing the Loop through an urban renewal lens,” said Landmarks Illinois President and CEO Bonnie McDonald. “‘Lost Chicago’ was also a warning of what our city would be if the bulldozer prevailed, [and it was] an awakening that ended the apathy around the Loop’s incremental destruction.” https://ow.ly/jcfS50TNKX2 📸Jill Kramer’s limited edition print of the Arch that is produced from carved linoleum. Depicted is one of the few surviving large-scale fragments from the Chicago Stock Exchange building designed in 1893.

The annual Illinois Main Street State Conference is a two-day event celebrating historic Main Streets, downtown districts and neighborhood commercial areas essential to thriving communities. November 12-14th, 2024. Learn more🔗 https://ow.ly/XYzt50TN3Bq The conference is brought to you by Illinois Main Street, in partnership with Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, the Driehaus Foundation, and Batavia MainStreet.

The historic Harley Clarke Mansion in Evanston is on its way to being restored and reused! Last night, the Evanston City Council unanimously approved entering lease negotiations with Celadon, which plans to adaptively reuse the once-endangered lakefront property as an event space and hotel, featuring a restaurant and other retail stores. For nearly a decade, Landmarks Illinois has been advocating alongside Evanstonians to save and repurpose this iconic building. We included it on our Most Endangered list in 2016 and have worked closely with city officials to help guide the Request for Proposal (RFP) process. Celadon’s proposal will maintain public ownership, enable a sustainable reuse of the property and continue the Jens Jensen Gardens’ stewardship of the beautiful landscape surrounding the mansion. Harley Clarke has been vacant for too long. It's time to breathe new life into this treasured Evanston landmark! Read the article here: https://ow.ly/ffGX50TM3Cn