Richard H. Driehaus spent 40 years as a preservationist before partnering with Landmarks Illinois in the 1990s. The partnership birthed the annual Richard H. Driehaus Preservation Award in 1994, honoring those who carry on Dreihaus’ legacy of historic preservation.
With the awards, Landmarks Illinois recognizes projects for excellence in one of nine categories, including stewardship, environmental sustainability and preservation. Two of this year’s winners are the Millstadt Water Tower in Millstadt for advocacy and the Edison Avenue Arts Lofts in Granite City for adaptive reuse.
The Old Millstadt Water Tower has been a pillar of the community since 1931. The tower was nearly voted to be demolished in 2013, but thanks to the efforts of residents, the “Tin Man,” as it’s affectionately called, was saved.
“When I heard that the village was thinking of taking the tower down, I was like ‘We got to do something,’” said Friends of the Old Millstadt Water Tower President Betty Keller Timmer. “It was a community-wide effort. If you name it, we did it. One of our members is a very good pie maker. We would have bake sales, and it was all free will donation. She got $100 for a cherry pie.”
It took bake sales, annual half marathons and more than a decade of grassroots fundraising to get the project done. By 2023, it was complete, and people from across the country came to visit the small town with the big water tower.
“In Millstadt, we always think we're just a little speck on the map,” Timmer said. “Now we are getting people that are coming into town to see the tower because I've basically talked nonstop about it for 11 years.”
In Granite City, St. Louis-based development firm Rise Community Development turned an unused YMCA building into a new affordable housing option. Director of Real Estate Development for RiseSTL Mark Stroker said that the building held many memories for Granite City residents.
“The stories are varied and touching and funny,” Stroker said. “Everybody wants to tell the story about how the men would swim [there], and none of them wore bathing suits. They all learned to swim naked.”
For structures like the old YMCA with such strong community ties, Stroker added that it’s important to repurpose and preserve them in ways that center the needs of residents.
“The uses were limited, [but] one of the best reuses is [to] create community space, creative space, art space,” Stroker said. “In the case of Edison Avenue Art Lofts, it's affordable housing and units for artists, including a unit for an artist in residence. It, quite honestly, is the way that we at Rise are able to preserve a lot of the buildings.”
Landmarks Illinois President and CEO Bonnie McDonald said they work closely with the roughly 200 preservation projects happening statewide throughout the year. Preservation is more than renovating buildings for passion projects, she said. It is a way to create economic development and deeper community connections.
“[We try to support] the passion that people have for these places that are vital to their communities — that are about identity [and] that are providing for the needs of a community,” McDonald said.
In addition to providing grants to development projects, Landmarks also provides tools and information for developers to know how to raise funds themselves. The awards are a bonus on top of these initiatives.
“The value of this, from our perspective, in giving these nine awards is also to bring attention to the need for more resources,” McDonald said. “We often call it ‘lasagna financing’ because you have to layer so many different sources together.”
McDonald added that the Granite City and Millstadt projects and the other 2025 awardees show that landmarks are determined by the community first. She hopes they serve as inspiration for other up-and-coming projects.
“It's very important to let our community know that it's not just what we call capital ‘H’ historic properties — those that are listed in the National Register,” McDonald said. “ It's a place that is significant to the people in the community that have identified it for investment and that have moved forward to revitalize this place — putting in principles that meet the needs of that community.”
To learn more about the history of Old Millstadt Water Tower, the Edison Ave Arts Lofts and the work of Landmarks Illinois, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
Related Event
What: Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards Ceremony
When: 6 p.m. Nov. 7
Where: Theater on the Lake, 2401 N. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60614
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
