On Tuesday, May 5, the Elgin Heritage Commission will honor outstanding contributors to Elgin’s heritage at the prestigious Mayor’s Awards ceremony held at the Elgin Art Showcase. Given annually by Elgin Mayor David Kaptain, upon recommendation of the Elgin Heritage Commission, the awards recognize those who have preserved and promoted the heritage of Elgin.

Mayor Kaptain will present seven individuals and organizations with Preservation Awards this year. Nominated by their peers, the award recipients were selected based upon their dedicated efforts to preserving Elgin’s historic architecture, neighborhoods, and cultural resources.

The Mayor’s Awards for Preservation will be presented to the following seven recipients:

1. Altrusa International Club of Elgin for its five-plus years of service as a women’s civic organization in promoting literacy, community health and education.
2. Anne LoCascio for promoting an awareness of Elgin’s heritage through program publicity at the Elgin History Museum.
3. Downtown Neighborhood Association – Design Committee (Tom Armstrong, Betsy Couture, John Hrivnak, Darlene Hulin, David Jurina, John Roberson, Dave Segal, Jerry Sorenson, Deirdre White and Amy Munro) for its preparation of the nomination to list Elgin’s downtown commercial district on the National Register of Historic Places.
4. Gail Borden Public Library for its collaboration in creating a compelling tribute to Elgin, its library and other local, national and international events in its Timeline Exhibit.
5. Steve Thoren, Jeff Myers and George Rawlinson for publicly honoring the heritage of Elgin’s veterans through the annual radio show, “Tribute to the Troops.”
6. Paul and Jean Bednar for their restoration of 141 Hill Avenue, 12 Rugby Place and 16 Rugby Place.
7. Tom and Maureen Lee for their restoration of 359 Park Street.

Additionally, seven heritage building plaques will be presented to Elgin homeowners who have researched the history and architecture of their historic homes this year.  Since the program’s establishment in 1985, over 400 plaques have been presented.  This year’s recipients are:

1. Marisela Gomez and Martin Ramirez, 575 Franklin Boulevard
2. Eric Malcolm and Katie Cundiff, 820 Prospect Boulevard
3. Kimberly and Kristopher Kaldenberger, 10 N. Alfred Avenue
4. Heidi Schroeder,  802 Douglas Avenue
5. James and Debbie Berry, 72 N. Liberty Street
6. Cheryl and David Atkins, 465 Division Street
7. Tom and Maureen Lee, 359 Park Street

The commission is a citizen’s advisory board that promotes Elgin’s historic preservation activity through the protection, maintenance and preservation of the city’s architecture, historic and cultural resources. The Elgin Heritage Commission is composed of nine voting members appointed by the Mayor with the consent of the Elgin City Council.  For more information about the Commission, please contact Christen Sundquist, Community Development Department, at 847-931-6004.

SOURCE: City of Elgin press release