Landmarks Illinois has awarded $32,150 in grant funding to several preservation projects across the state.
According to a news release, the grants can be used to address significant structures or sites in Illinois that are under threat of demolition, in imminent deterioration, in need of stabilization, or need to be evaluated for landmark eligibility.
Assistance comes from the Preservation Heritage Fund and Barbara C. and Thomas E. Donnelley II Preservation Fund for Illinois grant programs.
This year's recipients:
- Stinson Memorial Public Library District, Anna: $2,500 to repair and clean the exterior of the architecturally significant, 110-year-old library that stands as an anchor for Anna’s downtown.
- Heritage Preservation Foundation, Beardstown: $1,650 for an updated fire alarm system at the Beardstown Grand Opera House, a National Register-listed site built in 1872 that today is home to retail and community theater space.
- RBF Dome NFP, Carbondale: $2,500 for repairs to the architecturally significant Bucky Fuller Dome Home, a unique local and nationally recognized landmark that the local nonprofit has worked to preserve over the past 20 years to serve as a museum honoring Fuller’s legacy.
- National Museum of Gospel Music, Chicago: $5,000 to conduct an environmental study of Pilgrim Baptist Church, former home to one of the nation’s most significant African-American congregations and the birthplace of gospel music and future home of a national gospel music museum.
- Share Your Soles, Chicago: $5,000 to repair and replace wood shingles on the Pullman Stables, a previously neglected historic building at the Pullman National Park now used as headquarters for the nonprofit that provides shoes to those in need.
- Save the Tabernacle Inc., Freeport: $5,000 to repair the cupola of the historic Oakdale Tabernacle, a culturally significant former Landmarks Illinois Most Endangered site that evaded demolition thanks to strong community support for its preservation.
- Golconda Main Street, Golconda: $3,000 for a structural assessment of the historic, 1887 John B. Young Opera House that sits prominently in the town’s historic district but needs maintenance due to previous neglect and years of sitting vacant.
- Little Egypt Arts Association, Marion: $2,500 to install an ADA-accessible bathroom in the historic Powell Building on Marion’s town square, which serves as an arts center for both adults and children.
Landmarks Illinois is a membership-based, historic preservation nonprofit organization. The organization says these small grants can help spark community engagement around the preservation of a place and help boost local fundraising efforts for the preservation project.
Grant applications for the next round of funding through the Preservation Heritage Fund and Barbara C. and Thomas E. Donnelley II Preservation Fund for Illinois grant programs are due April 1.