Chicago, Cook County
Acme Steel Plant

The Calumet Heritage Partnership’s Steel Heritage Project received in 2004 a $10,000 grant to help acquire some of the surviving structures at Acme Steel’s former coke plant along the Calumet River near 136th Street from its current owner, a scrap dealer. These include a quench tower, block-long coke batteries, and several brick buildings dating to 1905-30. The property was listed on Landmarks Illinois' Ten Most Endangered Historic Places in 2004.

Chicago, Cook County
All Saints Church

The Episcopal congregation that owns this 1883 Stick Style-structure received a $15,000 matching grant in 2005 to assist in the restoration of several art glass windows, which were designed by the renowned firm of Healy & Millet. The church is a locally designated landmark.

Chicago, Cook County
Bohemian National Cemetery

This 122-acre cemetery, which dates to 1877, includes monuments to veterans of the Civil War, Spanish American War, and World Wars I and II and is the final resting place for veterans of the Korean, Vietnam, and Iraq wars.  The cemetery used its $1,000 grant in 2007 to help restore its water tank.  The water tower and tank are visual landmarks for this northwest Chicago neighborhood. 

Chicago, Cook County
Canaan Baptist Church

The Canaan Baptist Church, located in the city’s Englewood neighborhood, was designed by Solon Beman in 1904.  The building was designated a Chicago Landmark (including the interior) in 2006. The congregation received a $3,000 grant in 2009 to make needed repairs to the finishes and windows in the sanctuary.

Chicago, Cook County
Central Park Theater

The House of Prayer, Church of God in Christ received a $5,500 grant in 2005 to complete a National Register nomination and to conduct a condition assessment of its historic home, the Central Park Theater. Constructed in 1917, the building is the first movie house developed by the successful Balaban and Katz chain and Rapp & Rapp architects. The theater was listed on Landmarks' Chicagoland Watch List in 2004.

Chicago, Cook County
Chetwyn Rodgers Faith Memorial Church

Originally the home of the Madison Square Bank, this West Side structure was built in 1923 and designed by Holabird and Roche.  The original plaster interior has been damaged by a leaking roof and a $3,000 matching grant in 2008 was used for roof repairs. 

Chicago, Cook County
Glessner House

The Glessner House Foundation received a grant in 2004 to help to match a federal grant from the Save America’s Treasures program.  The money was used to create a visitor’s center in the former coach house of this acclaimed residence, designed by noted architect H. H. Richardson in 1886. Ironically, Landmarks' first offices—back in 1971—were housed in the Glessner House, which is located at 1800 S. Prairie Avenue.

Chicago, Cook County
Graver-Driscoll House, Chicago

A $5,000 grant in 2007 was used to make repairs to the Ridge Historical Society’s headquarters. The Tudor Revival-style building, designed in 1922 by John Todd Hetherington, is a contributing structure in the Ridge National Register Historic District. The property was donated to the historical society in 1972 by James P. Driscoll. 

Chicago, Cook County
Israel-Samuel A.M.E. Zion Church

This North Lawndale church was on both Landmarks Illinois’ Chicagoland Watch List and Ten Most Endangered Historic Places list in 2006.  A $12,500 grant in 2006 funded a conditions assessment and helped stabilize the building, which has since been purchased by a new congregation. 

Chicago, Cook County
Quinn Chapel

The congregation of Quinn Chapel used its $25,000 grant in 2005 for phase one of an estimated $7 million restoration plan.  Quinn Chapel is known as the oldest African-American church in Chicago.  Constructed in 1891, Quinn is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and is a Chicago Landmark. It is located at 2401 S. Wabash.

Chicago, Cook County
Pui Tak Center

The Pui Tak Center (originally the On Leong Merchants Association Building) is the centerpiece of the city’s Chinatown area. The building has been a Chicago Landmark since 1993. The Church that owns the building intends to restore the terra cotta exterior of the building in four phases – the first of which was largely funded by a Partners in Preservation grant through the National Trust and American Express. A $2,500 grant in 2009 will go towards funding Phase II of the terra cotta repairs. 

Chicago, Cook County
Second Presbyterian Church

Friends of Historic Second Church will use the $1,000 matching grant to make repairs to damaged ornamental plaster at the ceiling and wall in the northwest corner of the sanctuary. The Gothic Revival building was designed by architect James Renwick and completed in 1874.

Photo: Martin Cheung

Chicago, Cook County
Zion Temple Missionary Baptist Church

The Art Deco style Zion Temple Missionary Baptist Church in the city’s Englewood neighborhood was designed by Murray D. Hetherington in 1939.  The congregation will use a $3,000 grant in 2009 for needed roof repairs.

Des Plaines, Cook County
Des Plaines Methodist Campground

The Campground received a $2,500 grant in 2004 to conduct a structural assessment of five cottages. The campground was founded in 1860 and consists of 35 acres with 127 buildings. The five cottages are threatened with demolition due to their location in a flood plain. An additional $5,000 grant in 2009 was earmarked for additional engineering work. The entire campground, which is located 20 miles northwest of Chicago’s Loop, was listed as one of Landmarks Illinois' Ten Most Endangered Historic Places in 2003.

Elgin, Kane County
Teeple Barn

AgTech used its $5,000 grant in 2004 as a match to federal funding from the Save America’s Treasures program. The project was to complete the stabilization of this unique structure, which was built in 1885. One of the few 16-sided “round” barns in the United States, it was listed as one of Landmarks Illinois' Ten Most Endangered Historic Places in 1999.  Unfortunately, the Teeple Barn collapsed due to high winds in May 2007.

Evanston, Cook County
Frances Willard House

Built in 1865, this is one of four buildings on the Women’s Christian Temperance Union campus in Evanston. These buildings were listed on LI’s Chicagoland Watch List in 2003. Since that time, the Willard House and the house at 1724 Chicago Avenue have been designated local landmarks. The Frances Willard Historical Society will use the $1,500 matching grant to make fire safety repairs to the building to allow it to be open to the public.

Hinsdale, Cook and DuPage Counties
Zook House and Studio Move

A $3,750 grant was awarded in 2005 to the Hinsdale Historical Society for filming the relocation of the house and studio of architect Harold Zook. The move of the buildings to a local park was necessitated by a proposed residential teardown project. Hinsdale is a western suburb of Chicago.

Lake Forest, Lake County
Ragdale

The home of noted architect Howard Van Doren Shaw has been an artists’ community for the past 30 years.  The Ragdale Foundation used a $5,000 grant in 2006 to conduct a Historic Structures Report of the 1897 house, as part of a $1 million restoration project. 
 

Libertyville, Lake County
Brainerd Building

This Neo-Classical-style school was built in 1917 and was the first high school in Central Lake County. In 2006, a local non-profit, the Brainerd Community Center, Inc. (BCCI), was founded to sub-lease the building from the Village and to spearhead a plan to renovate it into a multi-purpose community center. BCCI received a $1,500 grant in 2009 for a financial study. The Brainerd Building was on Landmarks Illinois’ Chicagoland Watch List for 2009-10.

Lombard, DuPage County
DuPage Theater

The Friends of the DuPage Theater received $20,000 in 2005 to assist with legal fees for litigation filed against the Village of Lombard.  The Friends of the DuPage Theater were joined by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in pushing for the Lombard Historical Commission to obtain the right to a six-month demolition delay as allowed in their preservation ordinance, but was denied by the Lombard Village Board.  The theater has since been demolished.

Maywood, Cook County
Home for Soldiers’ Widows

This Georgian Revival-style building was constructed in 1924. Owned by the Village, the building is in need of some attention. The Preservation Commission is partnering with other interested organizations to clean up the property and will use their grant money to purchase necessary supplies. The Home for Soldiers’ Widows was listed on LI’s 2012 Ten Most Endangered Historic Places list.

Photo: David Shalliol

McHenry, McHenry County
Petersen Farmstead

This 140-acre, 1840s farmstead includes two extremely rare 1930s/1940s wood silos adjacent to the barn. The City of McHenry, owners of the property, used a $5,000 grant in 2006 to restore the silos and repair the main barn. The plan is to open a museum and offices in the barn, in conjunction with the city’s parks and recreation department. McHenry is 50 miles northwest of Chicago in McHenry County.

Montgomery, Kane County
Settler’s Cottage

This oldest remaining structure in Montgomery was once owned by the founder of the village.  The Village received a $1,500 grant in 2006 to conduct a Historic Structure Report; a second grant of $3,500 in 2008 was for the interior restoration. Montgomery is just south of Aurora in Kane County.

Mount Prospect, Cook County
Central School

A $2,500 grant in 2007 was awarded to the Mount Prospect Historical Society to help relocate this 1896 one-room schoolhouse, which had been on the property of St. John’s Episcopal Church.  In 2002, the church agreed to sell the historical society the building for $1, if the building was moved within five years. A one-year extension to the agreement has enabled the historical society to successfully raise the required $150,000 to move the building.

New Lenox, Will County
Francis Field Youth Foundation Barn

This 18-acre site contains a field house, horse arena and announcer’s building, a concession building, and a 50-year-old, open-sided barn. The Foundation received a $3,000 matching grant in 2008 to restore the barn’s distinctive sliding doors. The farm property, which was donated to the 4-H Club in 1953, has been designated a Will County Landmark. New Lenox is five miles east of Joliet.

North Chicago, Lake County
Great Lakes Naval Museum

A $5,000 grant in 2006 to the Great Lakes Naval Museum Association helped fund design services for a re-use study of the former Hostess House (Building #42) at the Great Lakes Naval Base.  The building was previously slated for demolition by the Navy.

North Chicago, Lake County
Holy Family Church

This congregation used its $7,500 matching grant in 2005 for foundation work and furnace repairs for its 91-year-old Late Gothic Revival style church. The church basement is used for a food pantry, whose operation was jeopardized by the building’s deterioration.
 

Oak Park, Cook County
Living Sanctuary of Faith Church

This yellow pressed-brick building was constructed in 1903 as the Grace Lutheran Church.  The building was purchased in 2001 by the current congregation, which used its $2,500 grant in 2006 to repair the roof.
 

Oak Park, Cook County       
Pleasant Home

This National Historic Landmark was designed by George Washington Maher and built in 1897. In 1990, the Pleasant Home Foundation was created with the mission of restoring the house, which had been in public use for more than 50 years. The foundation used a $2,000 grant in 2007 to complete some of the work outlined in its Historic Structures Report.

Photo: Vincent Michael

Oak Park, Cook County
Unity Temple

Unity Temple Restoration Foundation received a matching grant in 2004 to undertake a master restoration plan for this Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece, which dates to 1905.  This grant helped supplement funding from Save America’s Treasures and the Getty Foundation. The project also included plans for a state-of-the-art climate-control system that may utilize geo-thermal energy.

Park Ridge, Cook County
Park Ridge Public Library

The Park Ridge Public Library was recently presented with a mural titled, “Indians Cede the Land”. The mural, completed in 1940, was commissioned for the Park Ridge post office, where it stayed until 1970, when the building was sold to the School District. When the building was converted into administrative offices, the mural was going to be cut to provide ducts and vents.  In order to save the mural from permanent damage, it was removed by a local high school history teacher and—40 years later—presented to the library, which received a $1,000 grant in 2009 to restore the mural for display in the library. 

Peotone, Will County
Peotone Mill

The Historical Society of Greater Peotone received a $5,000 grant in 2005 to conduct a structural assessment of the Peotone Mill (formerly the Rathje Mill). The mill, constructed in 1872 and in operation until the late 1880’s, was the primary source of feed for the local livestock industry. Peotone is 15 miles north of Kankakee in Will County.
 

Roselle, Cook and DuPage Counties
City of Roselle

The Roselle Historical Foundation used its matching grant of $5,500 in 2005 to help support a survey of a potential local historic district. Although the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency also funds historic resources surveys, those monies are only available to Certified Local Governments (CLG). Roselle, a western suburb of Chicago, was not a CLG.

St. Anne, Kankakee County
1st Presbyterian Church

This 1893 church received a $9,000 matching grant in 2005 for repairs to its brick exterior. St. Anne is 10 miles southeast of Kankakee in Kankakee County.
 

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