CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (October 24, 2019) — Landmarks Illinois has awarded $15,000 in grant-funding to preservation projects in five Illinois communities through its Preservation Heritage Fund Grant Program. Individual grants range from $2,500 to $5,000 each and will be used toward restoring historic places in the following Illinois communities: Atlanta, Princeton, Rochelle, Rushville, and Wilmington.
Landmarks Illinois, the only statewide historic-preservation advocacy organization in Illinois, awards matching grants through its Preservation Heritage Fund four times a year. The matching grants require the recipient to raise funds equal or greater to the Landmarks Illinois grant amount. Below are the recent five grant recipients, which were approved by the Landmarks Illinois Board of Directors in September. You can read more about each grant recipient at our website.
- Atlanta Public Library District, Atlanta: $2,500 for gutter repairs at the 1908 Atlanta Public Library Building, which stands as a prominent anchor for the community and is the only octagonal building in Illinois.
- Bureau County Historical Society, Princeton: $2,500 for repairs to the awning of the Matson Building, a Prairie Style structure built in 1912 that the local historical society wishes to reuse as a history learning-center.
- Vince Carney Community Theatre, Rochelle: $2,500 for exterior repairs to the Lincoln Elementary School — a former school constructed in 1909 that the theater company plans to transform into a community theater.
- Schuyler County Architecture Foundation, Rushville: $5,000 for Phase 1 repairs at the Ray House, a now vacant and deteriorated historic home LI included on its 2019 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois that is perhaps best-known for hosting Abraham Lincoln during his 1858 senatorial campaign.
- Wilmington Area Historical Society, Wilmington: $2,500 for tuck-pointing on the historical society’s museum building, which was built in 1879 and formerly served as Wilmington’s City Hall and fire house.
More about the Preservation Heritage Fund Grant Program The Landmarks Illinois Preservation Heritage Fund Grant Program was created in 2004 and provides funding for historic preservation projects focusing on engineering, architectural and feasibility studies, stabilization, legal services, survey, and National Register nominations as well as preservation ordinance-support. Applications for Preservation Heritage Fund grants are accepted four times a year in February, May, August, and November. The next deadline for grant applications is November 15, 2019.
About Landmarks Illinois
We are People Saving Places for People. Landmarks Illinois is a membership-based nonprofit organization serving the people of Illinois. We inspire and empower stakeholders to save places that matter to them by providing free guidance, practical and financial resources and access to strategic partnerships. For more information, visit www.Landmarks.org.
