Preservation in Action
The Lake Forest Preservation Foundation encourages and aids the restoration and preservation of historic sites, structures, landscapes and amenities of the community.
Newsworthy -
MAJOR CHANGES TO OUR CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT ARE BEING DISCUSSED
CHANGES TO LAKE FOREST’S CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT
The City of Lake Forest is updating the Comprehensive Plan for the Central Business District (CBD). The City has appointed a Working Group to make recommendations, and they are expected to do so by mid-March. The Lake Forest Plan Commission and City Council will then vote on the recommendations; they may vote as soon as mid-April.
The Lake Forest Preservation Foundation (LFPF) wants to ensure that its recommendations to preserve Lake Forest’s unique historic visual character are incorporated into the Comprehensive Plan for the CBD – before it’s too late. The Comprehensive Plan process must be open, transparent, and include the opportunity for meaningful engagement from LFPF and all Lake Forest residents. Too much is at stake.
Articles
July 6, 2023
June 29, 2023
Carry Playhouse, 1298 N. Green Bay Road
April 30, 2023
The Annual Meeting was held at “The Homestead” a beautiful historic home located at 570 N. Sheridan Road.
2022
December 5, 2022
November 5, 2022
Review of the 11/5/2022 Plan Commission Petition
2021
9/1/2021 Statement to the City Council Regarding Phase 3 of the McKinley Road Project
Statement to the City Council About Library Improvement Proposal
Lake Forest Library: Our Community’s Architectural Treasure
2020
What is “Compatibility” in Architecture?
2018
Train Station Update, November 2018
2017
Train Station Interior Renovation Update
2015
Preserving Keck & Keck Midcentury Modern Home
2011
2009
Lake Forest Landscapes Featured in Encyclopedia
2006
History and Architecture of Barat College
Awards, Projects, and Grants
Ongoing
Since 1976 Keeping preservation as a local value in front of the community.
Since 1991 Awarding over 250 Preservation Awards celebrating major owner investments in good preserved and new architectural design.
Since 2007 Tri-annually publishing and distributing Preservation to all Lake Forest households and LFPF members free of charge.
Since 2010 Annual benefit house and garden tours highlighting historic neighborhoods and architects.
Accomplished
2021 Restoration of Train Station c. 1900-1930 express office baggage carts to original colors.
2021 Lake Forest High Preservation Scholarship Award.
2020 Transfer of 1857 Plan Map to Chicago’s Newberry Library.
2020 Introduction of six Architectural Walking Tours of Lake Forest.
2020 Launching of bronze plaque program to honor Lake Forest’s commercial architecture and design heritage.
2019 Co-funded a symposium celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Howard Van Doren Shaw.
2019 Hosted author and historic landscape expert Judith Tankard’s lecture Gardens of the Arts & Crafts Movement.
2019 Hosted with the City of Lake Forest the Chicago Suburban Preservation Alliance fall meeting.
2019 Beginning of interior work at the East Lake Forest Train Station led by LFPF Board president Jim Opsitnik.
2018 $25,000 project match for the interior restoration of the East Side Lake Forest Train Station.
2017 Hosted with the City of Lake Forest nationally recognized expert on urban planning and development, Ed McMahon, The Power of Uniqueness.
2016 Raised over $100,00 through matching grants and Annual Fund donations for the East Lake Forest Tran Station renovation.
2015 Grant of $2,500 to support restoration of the original 1857 Almerin Hothkiss- designed Lake Forest Plat Map.
2014 $5,000 grant awarded to the Forest Park Project.
2014 Castlegate Gates restored through LFPF funding and neighborhood support.
2013 Partnered with the City of Lake Forest to fund restoration of entrance gates at Deerpath Hill Estates.
2012 $5,000 grant toward the Ragdale House renovation.
2012 Competition and acceptance of the nomination of West Park to the National Register of Historic Districts by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, submitted by LFPF.
2012 Extensive research by LFPF board member David Mattoon to assure replacement of flooring, lighting and paneling installed at the East Lake Forest Train Station is historically accurate.
2011 Founders Home Tour celebrating 150 years since the incorporation of Lake Forest.
2011 Grant writing assistance to the City to help secure over $800,000 in ITEP funds to be used for the East Lake Forest Train Station restoration.
2010 $2,500 grant to the Forest Park Project.
2009 Family Fair in Market Square – sponsored jointly with the LF/LB Chamber of Commerce.
2008 $50,000 grant for Historic Structure Report on 1900 East Lake Forest Train Station.
2006 Digital slide show and presentation of West Park’s National Register of Historic Places nomination to Landmarks Illinois at the annual State Preservation Conference. The nomination was unanimously approved and sent on to Washington and the Department of the Interior for further review.
2005 In cooperation with the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society, $2,500 was donated for the Elawa Farm Barn historical display, 1401 West Middlefork Drive.
2005 A $10,000 grant was made to Lake Forest College to help fund a campus-wide preservation planning document.
2004 A $15,000 grant was given to the City to help relight the 438 historic gas lights.
2004 The Foundation repaired and reinstalled a 1921 Knights of Pythias World War I memorial gate and plaque around an old elm tree at the northeast corner of Deerpath and Green Bay Road.
2004 The Foundation and the City co-sponsored a two-day seminar, "Sense and Cents-abilities," with keynote speaker Donovan Rypkema.
2004 A $40,000 grant was awarded to Ragdale Foundation for emergency repairs to the foundation of the Howard Van Doren Shaw barnhouse (1260 North Green Bay Road).
2004 A $25,000 grant was made to the Elawa Farm Foundation for regrading work and architectural review (1401 West Middlefork Drive).
2003 The Foundation made a $10,000 grant to Ragdale Foundation for its restoration campaign (1260 North Green Bay Road).
2003 A $1,000 grant was given to Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois toward their purchase of Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House in Plano, IL.
2000 The Foundation gave $25,000 to the City for the exterior restoration of Dickinson Hall, designed by Edwin Hill Clark in 1929 (Grove School Campus, 100 East Old Mill Road).
2000 The First Baptist Church received a $1,000 grant for exterior repair in honor of their 100th anniversary (673 Oakwood Avenue).
2000 The Foundation and the City co-sponsored the 20th Annual Statewide Preservation Conference hosted by Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois.
2000 A grant of $10,000 was made to the City for the Elawa Farms campaign (1401 West Middlefork Drive).
1998 to 1999 The Foundation granted $10,000 to Market Square 2000, some of which was used to restore the fountain's foundation.
1998 to 2001 A total grant of $10,750 was given to Gorton Community Center for the restoration of the original canopied west entrance and lantern (400 East Illinois).
1997 to 1998 A $1,700 grant was awarded for the construction and mounting of the map case in the lobby of City Hall (220 East Deerpath).
1996 to 1998 The Foundation raised over $125,000 to restore the Walden-Bluff's Edge Bridge at the end of Walden Lane.
1994 to 1998 A $1,250 grant was given to the Illinois towns of Eldred and Hillview following devastating 1993 floods
1993 through 2001 The Foundation helped fund a comprehensive list of all significant houses within the City's Historic District.
1993 A $3,000 grant was given to Lake Forest College for conservation of a rare 1906 general plan for Lake Forest University (Donnelley and Lee Library, 555 North Sheridan).
1991 A grant was made for the first printing of A Preservation Foundation Guide to National Register Properties | Lake Forest, Illinois.
1990 to 1995 Foundation support, including $34,000 and many volunteer hours, was donated for the Green Bay Road National Register District.
1990 A $500 grant was awarded to support the preservation of the historic resources of Fort Sheridan.
1985 Ihe Foundation made a $500 grant to the First Baptist Church for exterior renovation (673 Oakwood Avenue).
1980 The Foundation provided support for the Vine-Oakwood-Green Bay Road National Register District.
1978 to 1986 The Foundation raised $400,000 to renovate the downtown railroad station (691 North Western Avenue).
1976 The Foundation provided support for the Lake Forest National Register District.
1976 The Foundation cosponsored a Preservation Conference with the Lake Forest Garden Club, the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society, Open Lands, and The Nature Conservancy.