(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A preservation group has released its list of the nine most endangered historic places in Illinois.
It includes familiar spots in Chicago, such as the Damen Silos and the Century and Consumers Buildings on State Street.
But Landmarks Illinois is also highlighting the village of Brooklyn, which is the oldest majority-Black town in the country after it was incorporated in 1873.
President and CEO Bonnie McDonald says the town near St. Louis is losing residents and ground as railroads buy up land in the area that was a stop on the Underground Railroad.
The Century and Consumers Buildings made the list because the federal government bought them to protect the nearby Dirksen Federal Building. McDonald says the General Services Administration hasn’t maintained the early terra cotta skyscrapers, which are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Pending demolition plans are the reason Landmarks Illinois chose a public housing building in far southern Cairo and Baxter International Headquarters in Deerfield.
The non-profit puts together its annual list to encourage advocacy efforts and support for each property’s preservation.
McDonald says losing important places not only wastes environmental resources but silences their stories.
Alexander Brothers Blacksmith shop in Geneva; Oak Cottage in Naperville and Richmond’s Historic Wooden Bridge in McHenry County are also on this year’s list.
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