Harrisburg High School makes "Ten Most Endangered" list
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Landmarks Illinois, a Chicago-based group that advocates for the preservation of historical sites in Illinois, announced today that Harrisburg High School has made its 2012 list of most endangered historic places. It is one of five schools that made this year's list.
"Harrisburg has suffered devastating losses to its community fabric this spring," Jean Follett, Interim Executive Director of the group said, in a prepared release. "By saving this important historical building school officials can be fiscally responsible while preserving an important local asset."
The announcement came as a surprise to school board members and Superintendent Dennis Smith, who have been tossing around ideas about how to renovate the school. Partial demolition has long been an option.
"They don't have any authority to come down and tell us what we can and can't do with our building," said Smith. "They're right that the high school is in danger - in danger of falling down on the students inside."
Follett said her group hopes to help provide a community discussion about the high school because she thinks community members are too often not included in the decision-making process involved in the demolition or renovation of area schools.
"It's about having an open discussion in the community," she said.
Harrisburg High School was built in multiple phases beginning in 1904, with additions in 1914, 1922 and 1938.
Two seniors at the school are preparing a nomination for listing the school on the National Register of Historic Places. Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart both have visited the school.
According to a prepared release by Landmarks Illinois, the 2012 list of most endangered historic places in Illinois also includes an 1854 limestone house, a twelve-story terra cotta clad office tower, a turn-of-the-century city hall, a Georgian Revival building that housed the widows of Civil War soldiers, a 1928 former residential hotel, a former day school designed by Prairie School architect John Van Bergen, a 19th century farmstead, a Bertrand Goldberg-designed modern hospital and a residential design by the mid-20th-century architecture firm of Keck and Keck.
According to a memo sent to Smith from Follett dated April 12, the list is based on input from Landmarks Illinois' staff, board members and preservationists from across the state.
"Finalists are selected based on the significance of the property and current level of threat to the site," said the memo. "The purpose of the list is to draw attention to the importance of the historic resources and encourage their careful maintenance and preservation."
Smith, however, does not intend to let the announcement get in the way of the school board's plans to renovate the school, which will most likely include partial demolition of the building.
"Until they tell me what authority they have, we're going through with our plans," said Smith.
Landmarks Illinois is a not-for-profit organization working to protect historic places in the state for 40 years, according to the release. The group works with citizens and communities to preserve historic places and promote awareness about them through education and advocacy.
This is the 18th year the organization has produced a Ten Most Endangered list. It also sponsors an annual awards program and a matching grant program for county courthouses. The complete Ten Most Endangered list with photos is at the Web site www.landmarks.org in the "Press Room" link.