The Castle Restoration Task Force has fulfilled all requirements for receipt of the Adopt-a-Landmark grant from the city of Chicago. With funds in escrow from this grant and almost 200 pledges and donations from individuals and family foundations, Beverly Unitarian Church is scheduled to have Mark 1 Restoration Co. begin the turret restoration work soon.
Since the “shelter in place” mandate will prevent any in-person gathering to celebrate the project kick-off, the church has made arrangements with The Beverly Review to provide live stream video coverage of the initial work. The video will be available on newspaper and castle restoration websites and Facebook pages.
The Castle restoration committee said that fundraising must continue to ensure restoration work “below the roof line” including accessibility enhancements. According to church member Jean Hardy Robinson, the state’s financial challenges make it impossible to know if the $300,000 Rebuild Illinois grant, announced in the current budget, will be available within the next year or two.
