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Landmark group places State Historic Preservation Office on “Most Endangered Places” list

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Illinois

A list of the Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois was announced today at a press conference in Springfield. Now in its 20th year, this statewide list calls attention to threatened historic resources in need of assistance in the form of responsible stewardship, creative reuse plans, and/or advances in public policy. The slow economic recovery, state budget crisis, and a lack of available financing continue to challenge historic sites throughout Illinois.

“The sites named to the list, as well as the critical work of our State Historic Preservation Office, are all exceptionally important to not only local residents, but the local economy,” said Bonnie McDonald, President of Landmarks Illinois. “By calling attention to the potential for reuse and revitalization of these historic places, we are encouraging job creation and economic development across Illinois – something everyone can support.”

The properties on this year’s list are: the home of the Schwinn Bicycle Company co-founder, a Lincoln-era home in Springfield, an 1855 Greek Revival house and barn, an iconic fifty-foot statue located in a state park, vanishing mid-century modern houses, a former state hospital’s main building, key projects in the expiring River Edge state historic tax credit program, a vacant archdiocesan school, a large-scale industrial bakery, a southern Illinois “thatched cottage,” an early Chicago movie palace, and lastly, the vital office that administers the State’s historic preservation programs.

* More…

Landmarks Illinois 2015 Most Endangered Historic Places […]

State Historic Preservation Office
Springfield

Governor Rauner’s proposed FY2016 budget zeroes out funding for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA) Preservation Services Division, our State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). What we do not know at this point is if funding will be restored, if the Division will be moved to another agency, or if the administration proposes to cut preservation altogether. The federal government requires each state to have a SHPO to manage federally-mandated programs like Section 106 regulatory review, Certified Local Government (CLG) grants, the National Register of Historic Places and the administration of the Federal Historic Tax Credit program that requires staff design review of rehabilitation projects on behalf of the National Park Service. Federal funds flow into Illinois to pay for these services. Landmarks Illinois is advocating to restore state funding for the SHPO and maintain or grow its capacity to manage these vital regulatory review and incentive
programs. The SHPO staff last year alone assisted private developers and property owners with Federal Historic Tax Credit rehabilitation projects totaling $726.6 million in private investment – a higher total than in any other state. That translates to approximately 3,600 Illinois construction jobs. A loss of staff and budget to the SHPO will slow down project reviews and have a major impact on the real estate development community, job creation and put Illinois at risk of losing matching Federal funds and millions of dollars in private investment.

As we discussed yesterday, Speaker Madigan has introduced a bill to dissolve the IHPA and merge it with DCEO, with the Lincoln Museum functioning as a stand-alone entity.

Discuss.

* Related…

* Illinois Historic Preservation Agency fights for survival: The board of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency on Thursday assailed Gov. Bruce Rauner’s push to eliminate the agency, saying the move could force some state historic sites to close and would hinder a program that has helped generate more than $1 billion in construction spending.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 10:23 am

Comments

Those services with the least ability to lobby for themselves, will be cut. The strongest voices will receive the dollars while the vulnerable and least vocal will be left by the wayside.

Money influence speaks volumes in Illinois politics, and the powerful will do everything they can to protect their cache. Add to this the fact that we have fewer and fewer young and involved voters.

Comment by Sunshine Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 10:31 am
This bears close watching. Most of Illinois historic sites are not tourist driving revenue producers. The goal is preservation in and of itself.

Comment by Wordslinger Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 10:33 am
Oh man, I had a whole two week vacation scheduled around a visit to the home of the co-founder of Schwinn. But now that’s in jeopardy, what will we do?!

Comment by Anon Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 10:38 am
This is going to cost us a lot more than it currently does, and nothing will improve. No one is saying that this will make things better. No one seems to be focused on anything beyond political power and budgets.

In ten years, the people who made this happen will be gone and they will leave nothing behind except hard feelings, confusion, and damaged agencies, museums, and historic properties.

They might bask in the glow of their political win today, but we will end up paying for their win for decades.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 10:46 am
I said my piece on IHPA and the museum yesterday.

As the owner of a mid-century modern home, I appreciate the historical significance of it and maintain it as best I can. I haven’t used any state or federal resources but I’m aware of the programs and it’s nice to know they might be available if needed.

Whatever happens to IHPA, the actual State Historic Preservation Office needs to survive. As noted above, it not only helps raise the awareness of historically significant properties, it brings in federal money.

Somebody really needs to explain the whole federal money / state match deal to the new guys.

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 11:01 am
VM @10:46 summed it up.

Comment by Qui Tam Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 11:02 am
http://www.landmarks.org/most_endangered_2015_state_historic_preservation_office.htm This!

It’s way more than a sign on a building. It’s rehab construction money.

Comment by Amalia Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 11:09 am
Well done Landmarks Illinois. The fact that Historic Preservation has a mission to preserve is why it is not suited to manage the Lincoln Library and Museum. That doesn’t mean it should be abolished.

Comment by D.P.Gumby Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 11:23 am
I wondered why the state historic preservation program wasn’t mentioned in articles about abolishing the IHPA and establishing the ALPLM as a separate agency . . . It’s because Rauner’s folks have ignorantly zeroed out its funding. If one looks at the economic impact of historic preservation (especially how tax credits spur development and generate tax revenue), it makes far more sense for the preservation program to be in DCEO than it does the Historic Sites Division of IHPA. But what lies behind the legislation is not reason–it’s the result of a power struggle, and one that the ALPLM executive director seems to have won. The losers will be the taxpayers. The ALPLM will have to hire people to handle payroll, budgeting, and personnel that was handled for them by IHPA. Cuts in funding will assure that historic sites like Lincoln’s New Salem (whose annual visitation is higher than the ALPLM and is being run by only a half-dozen staff–no kidding) will be less available to the public and left to decline without the upkeep that historic buildings require. Too bad Illinois history is being short-changed solely for the benefit of the ALPLM and its executive director’s quest for autonomy.

Comment by Monday morning Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 1:16 pm
The SHPO also reviews thousands of construction projects annually–from privately funded gas stations to university buildings to low income housing projects. Further staff cuts could delay projects for months, resulting in a loss upwards of 100 million in new revenue generated by the construction industry. If the Governor wants roads built he will need a SHPO.

Comment by A More Perfect Union Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 2:00 pm
DCEO Tourism is geared entirely towards luring tourists to such meccas as Chicago and Lincolnesque Springfield. As someone else pointed out, some of the most truly historic but more remote sites are already decaying due to the endless budget cuts and neglect of the past decade, and my suspicion is that without a relatively independent and reasonably well funded Preservation Services office, the neglect will only get worse. Go visit the Menard Home or the Vandalia Statehouse and see what is already happening under a largely (now) disfunctional IHPA which got its priorities re-geared towards tourism over the past 5 years or so.

Comment by Skirmisher Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 2:40 pm
Much thanks to LandMarks Illinois for all the great work they have done to keep the ALPLM from backslidin’
Opps they dropped that ball big time. Good luck goin’ forward

Comment by Anonin' Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 3:03 pm
Could someone please explain how the Rauner-Madigan Lincoln Museum deal is “shaken’ up Springfield?”

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 5:22 pm
What could be historic about anything at the Peoria State Hospital?

Comment by Arthur Andersen Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 6:29 pm
- AA -

The old / closed Bartonville facility is an interesting place. From an architectural perspective, the buildings are somewhat ornate. It is a snapshot back into the days of using hospital type facilities to house the insane, or at least those deemed insane by the courts. From memory, there are at least three fairly large graveyards there. When doing genealogy research, I went to the facility looking for an ancestor’s grave site. Plus I believe the facility has been the subject of at least one Ghost Hunters show.

Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Apr 22, 15 @ 9:48 pm