Midwest Regional Office
National Trust for Historic Preservation Midwest Office
The National Trust for Historic Preservation's Midwest Office serves Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
Royce Yeater, Director
53 West Jackson Boulevard, Suite 350
Chicago, Illinois 60604
Phone: 312-939-5547
Fax: 312-939-5651
Email: mwro@nthp.org
The Midwest Office—based in Chicago with a Field Office in Mineral Point, Wisconsin—supports preservation by providing the region with information, guidance, organizational development, advocacy and financial assistance.
The office is engaged in several efforts to save historic places including: strengthening the preservation infrastructure in Duluth and St. Paul, Minnesota as part of the Trust's Preservation Development Initiative (PDI); spearheading the Lustron Website Initiative which is designed to help save the remaining 1948-1950 steel framed pre-fabricated homes from demolition and insensitive alterations; seeking alternatives to preserve the integrity and character of the Pabst Brewery Historic District in Milwaukee; and working to challenge the threats to numerous historic buildings in Downtown Detroit. Three of the 12 national HGTV Restore America 2005-06 initiatives showcase community reinvestment projects in the Midwestern region: the renovation of Minneapolis' Martha G. Ripley Maternity Hospital, the Lucien Moore House in Downtown Detroit, and the Efroymson House in Indianapolis.
The Wisconsin Field Office continues to work with local residents and the city of Beloit as they develop plans for the redevelopment of the National Register listed Fairbanks Flats which were built in 1917 to accommodate African-American workers relocating to Beloit during the Great Migration, and is supporting local efforts to preserve the National Register eligible Historic Michigan Street Bridge in Sturgeon Bay; and assisting the Driftless Area Land Conservancy in establishing their first historic preservation easement for the National Register listed Thomas stone barn in Barneveld built in the 1880s.
Small grants help to get a project off the ground and provide crucial support for community preservation initiatives. Recent grants include a $2500 grant to develop strategies for the creation of a National Heritage Area (NHA) for "Black Metropolis", also known as the Bronzeville neighborhood in Chicago, IL; a $5000 grant for the historic rehabilitation of the lobby and dinning area of the Park Inn Hotel in Mason City, IA; and $2000 for an engineering study for the preservation and reuse of the Douglas Hotel in Urbana, Ohio.
