Open Elgin to offer April 22 tour showcasing city's architecture and history

Posted April 06, 2017 11:00 pm

Submitted by Enhancing Elgin

The Harm A. Weber Academic Center is designed with an energy-saving hybrid natural/mechanical ventilation system. The Judson University building will be one of the sites on the Open Elgin architectural tours Saturday, April 22. Courtesy of Open Elgin

The Enhancing Elgin committee invites everyone to discover Elgin's architectural gems by touring buildings with award-winning architectural features, fascinating histories, and unique and eye-opening elements at the inaugural Open Elgin Architectural Tour.

The Open Elgin tour will run from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 22 with sponsorship from Triumph Community Bank and the Elgin Development Group.

This free, self-guided tour of Elgin spaces and places will feature schools, churches, downtown office buildings, businesses, LEED-certified structures and more. Tour times for each building will vary.

Among the historic spaces participants can tour include the legendary U-46 Observatory and Planetarium, which was part of the original Elgin Watch Factory Observatory that is on the National Register of Historic Places, First United Methodist Church, which dates back to just after of Elgin's incorporation in the 1830s, and the Professional Building, Elgin's oldest skyscraper with its breathtaking lobby.

Sustainable spaces include Triumph Community Banks, the Harm A. Weber Academic Center at Judson University and Gail Borden Library's Rakow Branch.

The complete list of more than 25 spaces and places on the tour along with individual building tour times are available at www.OpenElgin.com.

"We hope that people from both inside and outside of the city come to Open Elgin to experience the huge variety of remarkable buildings that we have here," said City of Elgin Mayor David Kaptain. "From the National Register buildings to the sustainable buildings, this community offers an extraordinary breadth of architecture."

Sponsored by the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce and the Enhancing Elgin Committee of the Elgin Development Group, the City of Elgin, Elgin Area School District U-46, Judson University, Elgin Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, Downtown Neighborhood Association, Elgin History Museum, Elgin Symphony Orchestra, Hamilton Wings, Create, Innovate, Ignite, and the Gail Borden Public Library District.

Gail Borden Library's Rakow Branch is an environmentally friendly LEED registered building. State-of-the-art features include a geothermal field. It has earned a LEED Gold certification. Courtesy of Open Elgin

The Elgin Area Historical Society's Old Main is an 1856 landmark building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was Elgin's first building entered on the National Register. Courtesy of Open Elgin

Advocate Sherman Hospital's geothermal Lake is the largest geothermal system in Illinois, and one of only two currently heating and cooling medical centers in the U.S. Courtesy of Open Elgin

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