By Tim Moran
Villager Editor
The Beverly Area Planning Association is the recipient of a $15,000 grant from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, money that will be used to help BAPA expand its efforts related to historic home preservation in Beverly/Morgan Park.
Michele McGuire, BAPA’s Community Relations Director, said the grant was applied for through the Driehaus Foundation’s “Built Environment” category, which focuses on projects meant to preserve Chicago’s historic built fabric and strengthen the character of its neighborhoods.
“We wanted to focus on the preservation of our historic homes, and also community education with this grant money,” McGuire said.
To that end, a portion of the grant money will be used to bring back BAPA’s Old House Lecture Series, events that feature a guest speaker who discusses and provides tips to local homeowners looking to make updates to their homes while preserving its historic character. The next Old House Lecture Series event will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 17 at the Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th St. and feature guest speaker Carla Bruni, who recently released a book titled “Chicago Homes: A Portrait of the City’s Everyday Architecture.” Books will be available for purchase at the event.
Bruni will “talk about why she wrote the book and walk us through different Chicago building types and explain how the social, political and economic factors of the time shaped the development of homes,” McGuire said. A Q&A will be held following the lecture, and the Chicago Bungalow Association will have a table at the lecture along with a representative available to answer questions.
Other funds from the grant will help BAPA publish a historic homeowners guide that will “equip current and future residents with clear, accessible information about preservation standards, architectural guidelines and the best practices for caring for their historic homes,” McGuire said.
The historic homeowners guide will be available to all online at bapa.org, with the hope for printed copies to be distributed at the BAPA office, Beverly Branch of the Chicago Public Library, Ridge Historical Society and local realtor offices.
Grant money will also help BAPA re-print the Historic Beverly Hills/Morgan Park brochure maps, so additional copies can be available to the public at coffee shops, libraries and other public places throughout Beverly/Morgan Park.
The Driehaus Foundation has awarded grants like these to organizations throughout Chicago and beyond since 1983. The foundation was created by Richard Driehaus, who was a pioneering and legacy investor, businessman and philanthropist.
McGuire said Tim Blackburn, historian at the Ridge Historical Society, was instrumental in helping BAPA land the grant, and that Driehaus Foundation representatives were immediately receptive to the application.
“We’re grateful that the foundation sees how special our neighborhood is and believes in investing their resources into helping us preserve it,” McGuire said.
