“This list calls attention to remarkable sites throughout the state,” said David Bahlman, president of Landmark Illinois. “In doing so, we also hope this will generate solutions for their preservation.”

Properties named to this year’s Ten Most Endangered include a stagecoach inn and tavern from the 1830s, a former opera house, one of the state’s first affordable housing successes, neighborhood schools across the state, and an artifact from the 1893 World’s Fair.

Barat College’s Sacred Heart Chapel, 700 E. Westleigh Rd., Lake Forest (Lake County)
This Florentine-inspired chapel, designed by George Hellmuth in 1922, is one of the most significant interior spaces on Chicago’s North Shore. It is part of the college’s Old Main Building, which is located within a National Register District and the city’s East Lake Forest Historic District. The college was sold to DePaul University in 2001 and closed in 2004. The property was sold last year to a private developer, who plans to demolish the chapel for underground parking and new condo construction. While the Lake Forest Historic Preservation Commission has voted twice to deny the developer’s demolition request, an economic hardship appeal by the developer is still being considered by the city council.

UPDATE: After listening to eloquent testimony from 31 speakers on the importance of preserving Barat College’s Sacred Heart Chapel, the Lake Forest City Council voted 8-0 on Monday, April 16, 2007 in favor of demolition.

Broadwell Tavern, Route 125, Pleasant Plains (Sangamon County)
This Federal-style inn and tavern, built in 1834, is the oldest surviving brick structure in Sangamon County. It features hand-fired bricks, forged door hinges, large hand-hewn beams, and finely-detailed walnut cabinetry. The building marks a turning point in the state’s early architecture, when rugged pioneer dwellings began evolving into more comfortable and sophisticated residences. Long operated as an interpretive historic center, the property transferred to a private owner in 1992. Since that time, the building has fallen into disrepair. It is now open to the elements, wildlife and vandals, and immediate intervention is needed to prevent further structural damage.

Cedar Court, 531-615 Cedar Ct., Park Ridge (Cook County)
The ongoing threat of suburban teardowns has struck one of this community’s most architecturally significant streets, featuring historic residences by architects Barry Byrne and R. Harold Zook. The city recently granted a demolition permit for the center building in a unique crescent-shaped collection of five houses designed by Byrne in 1923, in collaboration with sculptor Alfonso Iannelli. The owner plans to replace the building with a new residence, citing rehabilitation costs. Park Ridge has no local landmarks ordinance, which means it cannot prevent the demolition of any historic structures.

UPDATE: 535 Cedar Court was demolished on March 5, 2007, less than a week after its placement on the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places list. The issue of residential teardowns, particularly leading up to the April 2007 local election, has rekindled discussions about establishing a local preservation ordinance among community leaders and local residents.

Duncan Manor, 1002 Towanda Barnes Rd., Towanda (McLean County)
This grand Italianate home is one of the finest farmhouses in Illinois. It has been a striking presence on the rural landscape since its construction in 1875, and still draws admiration from drivers along Interstate 55. Though its surrounding farmland remains intact and active, the house itself is now abandoned and neglected by an absentee owner. Many of the building’s elaborate wood brackets and moldings have been lost, while porches slowly collapse. The home is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, but unprotected by any local landmark ordinance.

Germania Hall, 115 Main St., Freeport (Stephenson County)
Constructed in 1869 as an opera house and German social club, this is the last historic entertainment venue left in a community that—during the second half of the 19th century— was one of the best theater towns in the state. The building has been vacant for more than a decade, following its use as a nightclub. The city has proposed demolition, citing developers’ concerns over rehabilitation costs and the need for more downtown surface parking. Recent evaluations have found the building, which is a contributing structure in a local landmark district, to be structurally sound.

Lakeshore Athletic Club, 850 N. Lake Shore Dr., Chicago (Cook County)
This 19-story building sits on a prominent corner along Lake Michigan, just south of Mies van der Rohe’s acclaimed 860-880 Lake Shore Drive towers. This Beaux Arts structure, designed by Jarvis Hunt in 1927 as a private athletic club, features a marble-clad lobby, ballroom, swimming pool, and significant murals. It was purchased by Northwestern University in the late 1970s for use as a residence hall. After closing in 2005, the building and its site have been marketed for new development. Although listed in the Chicago Historic Resources Survey, it is not a designated Chicago Landmark.

UPDATE: The week of April 16, 2007, a demolition application was submitted to the city for the Lakeshore Athletic Club. The building has officially been posted in the city’s 90 day demolition hold list.

Lathrop Homes, Diversey Parkway at Damen Avenue, Chicago (Cook County)
This 30-building complex is one of the city’s oldest and most unique low-cost housing projects. It was built in 1935-38 by the Public Works Administration, based on a design scheme by an architectural “dream team” headed by Robert DeGolyer and including Hugh M.G. Garden and Tallmadge & Watson. The landscape plan was by Jens Jensen and the 35- acre site along the Chicago River features dramatic vistas, curving streets, and mature trees. The two-story row houses and three- and four-story apartment blocks were a desirable location for returning World War II veterans and countless thousands since. In July of 2006, the Chicago Housing Authority announced plans to raze the entire complex for 1,200 new mixed-income apartments, condominiums, and town homes. With the recent demolition of the Jane Addams Homes, Lathrop is one of the last examples of the city’s early public housing legacy.

Longfellow Elementary School, 4198 Seventh Ave., Rock Island (Rock Island Co.)
Longfellow Elementary is the only school in Rock Island’s historic KeyStone neighborhood. Diamond patterns enliven the brick walls of this 1934 Tudor-style school, and delicately carved stone finials line the roof above its main entrance. Like many other historic schools across the state, however, Longfellow faces an imminent threat of closure and demolition. Every year, Illinois loses several architecturally significant schools statewide, which are replaced due to consolidation, deferred maintenance, and misconceived new construction. Other neighborhood schools with an unclear future are Hubble Middle School (1925) in Wheaton and Edison Middle School (1914) and Dr. Howard Elementary School (1910) in Champaign.

Robinson Auditorium-Gymnasium, 200 E. Highland Ave., Robinson (Crawford County)
Tall fluted columns and a streamlined aluminum awning mark the entrance to this local Art Deco icon, which was built as a Public Works Administration project and inaugurated in 1938 by Eleanor Roosevelt. Mothballed since a new high school gymnasium opened in 2006, the building faces an uncertain future. A local non-profit organization hopes to convert the building into a community recreation center, but pressure to demolish the building—the town’s only National Register property—is growing among members of the school board that still owns the site.

Viking Ship, Good Templar Park, Geneva (Kane County)
A striking artifact from the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, the Viking sailed from Norway to Chicago for display at the fair. It was hand-built as a replica of an 8th-century Viking vessel, and donated to the people of Chicago by the Norwegian government after the exposition ended. First displayed in the Jackson Park lagoon, the Viking spent seven decades at the Lincoln Park Zoo before being relocated in an aborted 1994 restoration effort. It now languishes in dry dock on private land in Geneva. Those familiar with the ship’s condition stress the need for immediate action and fear that its continued deterioration will make restoration impossible. The ship is still owned by the Chicago Park District, which has yet to secure restoration funding or a suitable home for this irreplaceable cultural resource.

The Ten Most Endangered list’s purpose is to focus attention on sites threatened by: deterioration, lack of maintenance, insufficient funds, inappropriate development, or insensitive public policy. Since the first list was issued in 1995, over 121 properties have been identified on the endangered list, calling attention to statewide resources in need of preservation. The status of the listed properties is as follows: 36 buildings have been saved, 19 buildings have been demolished or substantially altered, and approximately 66 buildings still remain threatened to some degree.

Landmarks Illinois is celebrating its 36th year as a statewide advocacy and education organization. The organization works with citizens and communities throughout Illinois to preserve threatened historic resources, provides financial assistance through its Preservation Heritage Fund, and protects historic places by accepting easement donations. In addition to the Ten Most Endangered Historic Places, Landmarks Illinois also sponsors the Chicagoland Watch List, the annual Illinois Historic Preservation Conference and the Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards.