Protect local historical treasures

Instead of the all too frequent stories about historic buildings being demolished, I would hope to see more people using common sense to save important historic buildings, which are irreplaceable historic artifacts. I'm referring to the Daily Herald article on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. Ninety percent of the time, a historic building is slated to come down to become a parking lot or gas station, but now we have a new reason to destroy, to make way for public restrooms. While restrooms are an obvious necessity, I'm hopeful that preservationists in Batavia will find another site.

A friend of ours stayed in a historic home in the English countryside that was built in 1540. All he heard throughout his visit was how proud and grateful the local residents and business owners were that their town had the good sense to preserve their historic ambiance and architecture.

In recent national survey, a huge number of respondents stated that they like to visit historic sites, historic communities and historic museums. A National Trust booklet based on that survey, entitled, “New Directions in Heritage Tourism,” spelled out emphatically that travelers didn't want to visit towns that trashed their historic architecture or historic ambiance.

Those of us involved with historic preservation have been sickened by the number of historic homes and commercial buildings that have been lost in recent years. We have obliterated so many of these important artifacts, that at the rate we're going, there will be nothing left to admire, nothing left to study, and nothing left as a reference point to show our children.

Come and take a tour of our National Register-listed Stacy's Tavern Museum, which was named one of the finest and most accurate restorations in Illinois. You can reach me at the Glen Ellyn History Center.

Lee Marks

Glen Ellyn