What local history would you save?
American Express is writing checks that local historical preservationists hope to cash.
And you can have a say on one piece of history that will benefit, as well as tour most of the sites up for the money.
A replica Viking ship in Geneva, a social hall at Great Lakes Naval Station, a memorial building in Aurora and the Peabody Mansion in Oak Brook are among 25 Chicago-area places or things vying for some of the $1 million the American Express Foundation and the National Trust for Historic Preservation will give out in November.
The two entities created the Partners in Preservation Program last year. It is in the second year of a five-year plan to hand out $5 million in five cities. The San Francisco area was the first, and 13 agencies received grants.
"There's a lot of stories in Chicago, and buildings tell those stories," said Royce A. Yeater, Midwest director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for us," said Chrissie Howorth, educational site manager at the Peabody Mansion, which is asking for $149,300 to remove historically inappropriate windows and restore masonry joints to their original style.
An advisory committee will review the projects and pick winners. But the public gets to pick one, too.
From now through Oct. 10, you can vote online at www.partnersinpreservation.com. You can vote once daily per e-mail address.
The people's choice will have its grant fully funded.
The public will also get to see 23 of the projects during an open house weekend Sept. 15 and 16 at the sites. (A school and a statue will not be available.)
The trust quietly solicited submissions from local preservation agencies, Yeater said. It whittled a list of 160 entries with several criteria. Contestants have to be historically significant, have strong community support and be able to start work on their project by next year and finish by June 2009.
Timothy J. McClimon, president of the foundation and vice president for philanthropy for American Express, said they were also looking for diversity in geography, population represented and structures.
That explains how a wooden water tower at Bohemian National Cemetery and a smokestack at the former Sears, Roebuck and Co. headquarters on Homan Avenue in Chicago are being considered.
"Landmarks do not necessarily have to be buildings," McClimon said.
"Cultural and environmental properties were eligible," Yeater said.
The contestants were announced Thursday morning in the old Chicago Stock Exchange room at the Art Institute. When the Adler and Sullivan-designed building was demolished in the 1970s, preservationists managed to save parts including the trading desk, the windows and the trading boards.
"We could not think of a more appropriate location to launch our 2007 Partners in Preservation program than in the room that evaded the wrecking ball," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The projects up for consideration are:
• ABLA Animal Court Sculptures in Chicago, whimsical Depression-era sculptures from the first Chicago public housing.
• Repairs to the water tower at Bohemian National Cemetery in Chicago.
• Work on the stained glass domes at the Chicago Cultural Center.
• Lighting for the "Fountain of Time" Lorado Taft sculpture in Chicago.
• Restoration of four stained glass military-themed windows at the Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Hall in Aurora.
• Rehabilitation of Building 42 at Great Lakes Naval Station in North Chicago. It will be used as a museum and archives devoted to the history of naval recruiting.
• Roof repairs at the Grosse Point Lighthouse in Evanston, once the primary navigational aid into the Port of Chicago.
• Repair to the decorative sheet metal on the exterior of Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Chicago, which was designed by Chicago architect Louis Sullivan.
• Preservation of the chimney of Homan Square Power Plant in Chicago. The plant is being turned into a high school, and the chimney will be used for experiments with heat, airflow and energy generation.
• Humboldt Park Stables and Receptory, rehabilitation into a museum of Puerto Rican art.
• Independence Park Bungalow in Chicago for restoring original wood windows and buying historically appropriate storm windows. The bungalow showcases "green" rehabilitation methods.
• International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago for exterior cleaning and repair.
• On Leong Merchang Association Building/Pui Tak Center in Chicago, to assess damage to terra cotta masonry and clay roof tiles and stabilize them.
• Peabody Estate at Mayslake in Oak Brook for rehabilitation of the solarium.
• Petersen Historic Farmstead in McHenry, to stabilize the farmstead's stone foundation and re-level its floor.
• Pleasant Home in Oak Park for lead abatement in the paint of a rolled-steel fence and repairs and restoration of 10 stained-glass globes at its entry.
• Quinn Chapel AME Church in Chicago to repair fractured beams that support a floor of a kitchen.
• Ragdale Foundation in Lake Forest to restore and upgrade original wood windows.
• Robie House in Chicago for restoration of the guest bedroom at this Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house.
• Roger Brown Study Collection in Chicago for rehabilitation of doors, and repairs of masonry and roof.
• South Side Community Art Center in Chicago for restoration of the basement.
• Spring Grove Fish Hatchery for restoration of the building as a nature center and retention of the 1914 hatchery technology.
• Unity Temple in Oak Park -- another Wright building -- for roof drainage system repairs.
• Viking Ship in Geneva for stabilization and a new support structure to protect the 114-year-old replica of a 9th-century ship. The replica was sailed to Chicago for the World's Columbian Exposition.
• Von Steuben High School in Chicago for repairs and replacements of ornamental terra cotta lintels.