By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The 110-year-old former Elks Club in the city’s downtown has been named one of the most endangered historic places in the state.
Landmark Illinois, a nonprofit group that advocates for historic preservation, released its annual list last week of the Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois. Elks Lodge No. 64, 210 W. Jefferson St., was one of five properties on the list.
“It’s really one of the neatest buildings we have, especially that interior,” Mayor Tom McNamara said on This Week in the Stateline. “You’ve got a bowling alley in the basement, you got a ballroom, you’ve got multiple different bars.”
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But the building has been deteriorating for years with bricks falling from the structure, a partial roof collapse and other issues. A court order calls for the building to be razed, but the owner Argyll Properties has been granted multiple extensions.
McNamara said the city has “provided this owner every opportunity” to rehab the building, but it remains in poor condition.
“It could really be brought back as one of the neatest buildings around,” the mayor said. “The problem is the current owner has let this continually fall into disrepair.”
The Elks Club was designed by Lawrence P. Buck and built in 1912, but the club vacated the property in the 1990s and it has been deteriorating ever since. It was previously donated to Goodwill Industries, which made some improvements and sold it to the current owner roughly a decade ago, according to Landmarks Illinois.
The Elks Club was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005, and it is also part of the West Downtown Rockford Historic District. It was given local landmark status in Rockford in 2004.
“The restoration of our past mixed with new development opportunities have made this community thrive,” Sandi Kohn, president of the River District Association, said in Landmarks’ report. “The historical significance of the Elk’s Club building is paramount to the continuation of this mission. I, for one, cannot wait to see it back to the splendor of its past, ready for enjoyment of Rockfordians for generations to come.”
The Friends of Ziock, a historic preservation group in Rockford that notably worked to save the former Amerock building for use as a riverfront hotel, is pressuring the owner to sell so a new owner can rehabilitate the property.
2022 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois
Here are the other properties Landmark Illinois placed on its list this year. You can see the organizations full report here.
- Will County Courthouse in Joliet
- Gillson Park in Wilmette
- Eugene S. Pike house in Chicago
- Century and Consumers buildings in Chicago
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas .