Daily Herald opinion: Preservation group's narrowing 'endangered list' puts emphasis on historical value
This editorial represents the consensus opinion of The Daily Herald Editorial Board.
There is a delicate balance between saving beautiful and/or significant buildings from the wrecking ball, and feeling like we live in some sort of museum where everything old takes on an almost sacred sheen only because of age.
The preservation group Landmarks Illinois has been threading that line pretty well for 27 years, drawing attention to buildings and open spaces that we are in danger of losing through redevelopment or neglect.
On Wednesday, Landmarks Illinois put out its latest call to action, the 2022 list of Endangered Historic Places. For the first time ever, there are fewer than 10 places on their list, but what is there is significant: The Century & Consumers Buildings at 202-220 S. State St. in Chicago; the late-19th century Eugene S. Pike House that is vacant and deteriorating; the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, a Brutalist building from 1969; a long-vacant Elks Lodge in Rockford built in 1912 and considered "architecturally significant"; and the 107-year-old Gillson Park in Wilmette, a Prairie-style park along Lake Michigan with naturalist landscapes and open space that some locals fear will be forever ruined by plans for more roads and parking.
According to Landmarks Illinois, about half of the nearly 300 sites they have declared Most Endangered since 1995 have been saved or had proposed changes to them averted.
You may agree or disagree with the group about, say, the need to preserve an Elks Club in Rockford, the grandstand at the Du Quoin State Fair, the Broadview Hotel in East St. Louis or the Unity Temple in Oak Park. Historical value, much like beauty, is frequently in the eyes of the beholder.
In the Chicago region of course, architecture is a calling card. The city is a wonderland of the work of leading architects of the 19th and 20th centuries. Many of our suburbs have followed suit - witness the ongoing attempts to save the ornate old movie houses - not as museums but as active entertainment houses.
At the least, keeping meaningful physical remnants of our history is an investment in us, as a celebration of our achievement, a living reminder of our past or even as a cautionary tale. At their best, buildings are works of art that illustrate our humanity.
More practically, the renovation of historic buildings often leads to redevelopment of a street or neighborhood, helping to keep community identity intact.
Moreover, historic preservation is an important environmental strategy for urban and suburban sustainability, as reusing building stock avoids the high costs of new construction.
A Landmarks Illinois official says the smaller 2022 list is proof their strategy is working to bring endangered places to the attention of the greater public, where sometimes government and sometimes private investment come to the rescue. Citizens suggest candidates for inclusion on the list and the agency investigates and whittles the list down.
We congratulate Landmarks Illinois on the class of 2022, and thank them for their dedication to keeping the story of Illinois alive for the next generations.