Elgin to Present Mayor’s Awards for Preservation

The Elgin Heritage Commission will honor outstanding contributors to Elgin’s heritage at the Mayor’s Awards Ceremony held at the Historic (former) Grove Theater, now known as the Discovery Church, located at 200 Prairie Street. Hosted with Imago Events, the event will be held on Tuesday, May 4. Due to Restore Illinois Phase 4 restrictions, this event will be closed to the public and is invitation only. The ceremony will, however, be streamed live on the City of Elgin Facebook page beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Given annually by the Mayor, upon recommendation of the Elgin Heritage Commission, the Mayor’s Awards recognize those who have preserved and promoted the heritage of Elgin. Mayor David Kaptain will present 11 recipients 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 recipients:

• Elgin Public Museum: For celebrating its 100 year anniversary on November 12, 2020 with its Centennial Project.
• Paul Spiller: For volunteering his time for all of the plumbing installation at the 1846 Nancy Kimball House, located at 302 W. Chicago Street.
• Ron Lange: For overseeing the acknowledgement and documentation of Elgin’s current and past athletes a part of the Elgin Sports Hall of Fame.
• Terry Gabel & Sue Brigham: For their volunteerism and leadership in the continued success of the Friends of the Lords Park Zoo organization.
• First Congregational Church: For their dedication to long term preservation and energy conservation of the 1889 church through the installation of solar panels.
• Rudy & Lillian Galfi: For continuing a treasured Elgin History Museum event by going virtual which brought thousands of online viewers to the annual cemetery walk held in September of 2020.
• Ira Marcus: For the creation of the new exhibit at the Elgin History Museum, “Art and Artifacts: Where History Meets Art Exhibit.”
• Elgin History Museum: For their “You Are Living History” documentation project that allows all residents to be an active contributor in recording Elgin’s recent past.
• Aralei Properties: For rehabbing their property located at 212-214 DuPage Street, located in the Elgin Downtown Commercial Historic District.
• Carolyn Buhrow: For her inspiring photographs of Elgin’s religious facilities and landmarks.
• George Rowe: For his 20 years of dedication to Elgin’s history. George will be receiving the George Van de Voorde Outstanding Service Award.

Six heritage building plaques will also be presented to Elgin homeowners who have researched the history and architecture of their historic homes this year. Since the program’s establishment in 1986, over 500 plaques have been presented. This year’s recipients are:

• Antonio Rios, 839 Cedar Avenue
• Adam and Elizabeth Long, 706 Douglas Avenue
• Helen Therese Scibetta, 357 Hamilton Avenue
• David and Karen Clark, 724 N. Spring Street
• Bob and Beth Tierney, 225 Villa Street
• Sandra Skulski, 1032 Prospect Boulevard