Arcade Makes Top 10 Endangered List

The Blue Room at the State Capitol building was charged with anticipation on Tuesday, as Landmarks Illinois prepared to announce its 2009 "10 Most Endangered Historic Places" List. It was a standing-room only crowd, as representatives from nominee sites filled whatever seats had not been reserved for press and began lining the aisles.

While we knew for a certainty upon entering the Blue Room that morning that Riverside's own Arcade Building was among the Top Ten (the professional display boards with photos of the Arcade prominently featured were a dead giveaway) it was both exciting and gratifying to hear Jim Peters, President of Landmarks Illinois, explaining the program and criteria for selection.

The "Ten Most Endangered" program is well established. Now in its the fifteenth year, the annual announcement of our state's most endangered buildings is something that legislators and members of the preservation and development communities have come to expect.

"Often these sites are not threatened because no one cares about them. It's about raising attention to their plight and making people aware of what the locals already know about them," said Mr. Peters. "This is our work plan. This is a huge state and to focus our work on the buildings that are most critical, this '10 most' list does that."

The Arcade Building was designed in 1871 by Frederick Clarke Withers, then-partner of Olmsted and Vaux and famous in his own right. Withers' three story Victorian Gothic, designed as a multi-shop arcade, is nestled aside the commuter train station in the central business district, yet enjoys sweeping views of parkland. The Arcade completed Olmsted's vision for Riverside as a place in which "rural and urban advantages are agreeably combined" and until recently (see posts below), endured as a commercial focal point and contributed to our community identity.

Popular support for the Arcade has been tremendous. Landmarks Illinois received several hundred "Save the Arcade" letters from people from all walks of life: scholars, architects, historians, as well as Riverside residents including business and governmental leaders, former tenants of the Arcade and elementary school children. The Village of Riverside unanimously passed a resolution in support of the continued preservation of the Arcade and opposing any potential demolition. Locally, people recognize that the Arcade is critical to the historic integrity and vitality of Riverside.

Inclusion on Landmarks Illinois "10 Most Endangered Historic Places" List will give the Arcade Building much-needed wider exposure. While control of the Arcade has recently passed to an out-of-state mortgage holder - PrinsBank in Prinsburg Minnesota - the bank has indicated that it will not list the Arcade with a broker, but will merely wait for someone to make an offer. There is legitimate concern that when the bank sells to the highest bidder, experience with historic rehabilitation will not be a primary consideration.

As one of the "10 Most" endangered historic places in Illinois, Landmarks Illinois is now promoting the Arcade on its website: www.landmarks.org/ten_most_2009_1.htm

If you visit the site, you will see that they are actively directing interested parties with experience in historic rehabilitation to contact the Prinsbank account manager for the Arcade Building, Joe De Groot at 320-978-6351.

This type of exposure can only help. We are grateful to Landmarks Illinois for selecting the Arcade Building as one of its "10 Most Endangered." And this could not have happened without every one of you who wrote a letter a letter or signed a petition, or spread the word or lent a hand.

Thank you.