Aurora's GAR Museum earns statewide preservation award

Aurora's Grand Army of the Republic Memorial Museum has been honored with the 2016 President's Award for Preservation by Landmarks Illinois, a nonprofit organization advocating for the protection of historic and architecturally significant properties throughout the state.

The agency will present its 2016 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation President's Award for Restoration to the city of Aurora for the GAR Museum restoration project at the annual awards ceremony in October.

The awards ceremony will pay tribute to nine preservation projects across the state and to the people who went through extraordinary efforts to save, restore, rehabilitate and reuse these historic places in Illinois.

"Places have the power to bring a community together," said Landmarks Illinois President and CEO Bonnie McDonald. "That was the case for the GAR Memorial Hall, which told the story of Civil War veterans and now connects people in Aurora to the larger narrative of veterans, women and immigrants in the community. The steadfast dedication of the Aurora City Council and staff, and the support of the public in allocating funds to the project, speaks to the importance of this place and its stories - past, present and future."

Dedicated on July 4, 1878, the GAR Hall was a community centerpiece for the rapidly growing city of Aurora in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Construction of the GAR Hall was funded entirely by contributions from Aurora residents, and the hall was built on land donated by Aurora businessman Joseph Stolp.

Over the next 70 years, more than 700 veterans from 70 Civil War regiments would become members of GAR Post 20.

Located at 23 E. Downer Place in downtown Aurora, the GAR Museum reopened on Memorial Day 2016 after being closed for 15 years during restoration. The $3.5 million GAR Restoration Project focused on restoring and stabilizing the exterior of the building, and restoration and creation of exhibits that illustrate the Civil War, the importance of the GAR locally and nationally, the growth of Aurora, the brave Aurora soldiers who joined in the fight, and everyday life in post-Civil War America.

To date, the GAR Museum collection has more than 2,500 artifacts - photographs, scrapbooks, medals, flags, and items dating from the Civil War through the Vietnam War.

The GAR Memorial Museum is open from noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays.

The 2016 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards Celebration will be held on Saturday, Oct. 22, in Chicago.