• Landmarks Illinois Director of Advocacy Lisa DiChiera joined architecture journalist Anjulie Rao at the January 22 Commission on Chicago Landmarks' Program Committee meeting to propose 2413 W. Jackson St., one of the last known standing buildings in the city with ties to the Black Panther Party, as a property to consider for future designation as a Chicago Landmark.

• Frank Butterfield, Landmarks Illinois Springfield Office Director, participated in a panel discussion January 28 in Collinsville focused on the Illinois State Historic Tax Credit program. The event was hosted by the Urban Land Institute's Young Leaders.

• Director of Grants & Easements Suzanne Germann participated in a meeting January 21 in Englewood where residents discussed ongoing efforts to create the City of Chicago's first Neighborhood Character District to protect their unique homes in the neighborhood. Through the Cornerstones for Community Program, in partnership with Neighborhood Housing Services, Landmarks Illinois has been working with the Englewood neighbors to protect the historic properties along Harvard and Yale Avenues. This effort, years in the making, was the subject of a student video project Landmarks Illinois produced in 2017.

• Landmarks Illinois organized a special tour inside Old Cook County Hospital led by The Walsh Group on January 23. Landmarks Illinois Board Members, Skyline Council Members and supporters were able to see progress of the rehabilitation project transforming the long vacant historic building into a hotel. Block Club Chicago reporter Mauricio Peña also attended the tour and wrote this article on the project.

• Landmarks Illinois Board Vice Chair Gary Anderson was named "Citizen of the Year" by the Rockford Chamber of Commerce. Please join us in congratulating Gary on this accomplishment!

• Elgin City Council nominated the David C. Cook Building — a property Landmarks Illinois included on its 2008/09 Chicagoland Watchlist — for potential landmark status. The 1901 building faces a demolition threat from its owners who does not support landmark designation. With wide community support, this is the first time Elgin has nominated a property for landmarking without owner consent.

• Landmarks Illinois is celebrating the completed restoration of the Blake Hawk Statue in Oregon, a 109-year-old concrete monument standing 48 feet tall in Lowden State Park. Landmarks Illinois has been advocating to preserve the unique statue designed by Loredo Taft since including it on our 2016 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois. See more photos of the restored statue here.

• Landmarks Illinois has been assisting in the effort to create a new, multiple property historic district in Chicago to protect more than a dozen of the city's oldest low-rise buildings on the Near North Side, which continue to be at risk due to high-rise development. "The buildings selected here are representative of the beautiful and elegant residential architecture that lined these streets over 100 years ago," Landmarks Illinois Director of Advocacy Lisa DiChiera said at the January 16 meeting. The commission will next consider the district at its February 6 meeting. If given final recommendation, it will head to the City Council for final approval. Read the preliminary historic district designation report here.

• Landmarks Illinois was saddened by the start of demolition of the historic Ravenswood Club Building, most recently the Truc Lam Buddhist Temple, in Chicago. Landmarks Illinois included the site on our 2005 Chicagoland Watch List. In 2017, Landmarks Illinois also organized a site assessment by Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., which confirmed that despite the building’s deferred maintenance, there were limited conditions to suggest that the building could not be readily rehabilitated. Regardless, without protection of the property, it was sold to a buyer planning replacement.

• Another historic site in Illinois the Oakdale Tabernacle, which Landmarks Illinois called attention to on our 2018 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois, faces demolition. The Oakdale Park District will begin accepting bids to tear down the unique structure beginning in February. The tabernacle remains the only surviving structurally sound enclosed tabernacle in Illinois. Landmarks Illinois continues to work with local advocates to find a preservation solution. Learn more about these efforts at a website created by local advocates, SaveTheTabernacle.com.

• The City of Evanston’s February deadlines for respondents to the Harley Clarke Mansion RFP is fast approaching. The last day to submit questions is February 12, and last day to submit an RFP is February 28. The city is seeking to enter into a long-term lease of the mansion and its coach house to a party that will renovate the property and incorporate a public use as a meaningful component of its proposal. The Harley Clarke Mansion was included on Landmarks Illinois' 2016 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois.

• Landmarks Illinois hosted Tom Mayes of the National Trust for Historic Preservation at a Preservation Snapshots Lecture on January 22. Mayes discussed findings of his new book, "Why Old Places Matter." Mayes also presented at the Landmarks Illinois Board of Directors Meeting on January 21. (Check out other upcoming Preservation Snapshots Lectures)

• Landmarks Illinois hosted a one-day workshop in partnership with the International Masonry Institute on January 31 focused on restoration of interior tile, mosaics and ornamental plastering. Landmarks Illinois President & CEO Bonnie McDonald attended on the organization's behalf.

• Landmarks Illinois young and emerging professionals committee the Skyline Council hosted its annual Two nights of Trivia events January 28 and 29 at Revolution Brewing in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood. Thanks to everyone who came out to play and support the Skyline Council! Stay tuned for photos of the event in the coming days!