Architectural Services

The Raymond Hilliard Center was built as a public housing complex in 1966 by the Chicago Housing Authority. The 12.5-acre Hilliard Center was comprised of four curvilinear concrete apartment towers, two for elderly housing and two for low-income family housing. Two of the four high-rises have just been rehabilitated in Phase One of a $100 million two-phase project. The grand opening on November 19 celebrates the successful efforts of its private developer, Holstein Real Estate Development, and the cooperative support of many different local, state and federal entities, including the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, the Chicago Housing Authority, Illinois Housing Development Authority, the Chicago Deparment of Planning, the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, National Park Service and the Hilliard tenant association. To see a video recognizing the Hilliard Center from the 2007 National Preservation Awards' ceremony follow this link: http://www.illinoishistory.gov/PS/taxcredits.htm

There will be a total of 645 living units, which will provide both public-housing rental and affordable rental units. Twenty percent of the units are easily accessible for persons with differing abilities. Rental priority will be given to those who resided in Hilliard Center prior to construction. Approximately half the units are now available for rent. Phase Two will finish in spring of 2006.

Although less than 50 years old, the complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999 for exceptional architectural and historic significance. Its designer, prominent architect Bertrand Goldberg, also designed Marina Towers and River City in Chicago. The project cost for the first phase is $47 million, and it utilizes $17 million in Historic and Low-Income Tax Credits. Phase Two will start next year and will cost approximately another $50 million. IHPA staff worked extensively with the CHS, HUD, the developers and with their architects regarding the project design in relation to the Historic Tax Credits and the Federal involvement. Photo: IHPA Architectural Coordinator Carol Dyson speaking at the Hilliard Center grand opening.

Architectural Services by IHPA

Projects reviewed range from small residential restorations under the state tax freeze to multi-million-dollar historic rehabilitations that meet federal requirements for tax incentive programs. Division architects--as representatives of the National Park Service, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, or the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency--provide on-site assistance for many of the projects under review. More than 200 individual site inspections are made each year.

Preservation projects should be designed to meet the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation. The standards contain the principles of historic preservation as well as specific do's and don'ts about individual building techniques. The staff's familiarity with historic buildings enables them to suggest techniques and treatments for meeting the Standards for Rehabilitation.

Providing technical assistance to the public is another important responsibility of the architecture staff. Staff architects give presentations on interpreting the Standards for Rehabilitation and other technical preservation issues.

The following is a list of technical and architectural sites. (Clicking on the following links will open the linked site in a new browser window.)

National Park Service

• Heritage Preservation Services Home Page: www2.cr.nps.gov
  
• Technical Preservation Services- Learn the Rehab Standards: www2.cr.nps.gov/tps/tps_t.htm
  
• Technical Preservation Services for Historic Buildings: www2.cr.nps.gov/tps/e-rehab/index.htm
  
• Preservation Briefs: www2.cr.nps.gov/tps/briefs/presbhom.htm
  
• Preservation Tech Notes: www.gsa.gov/web/p/hptp.nsf/NPS+Preservation+Tech+Notes?OpenView
  
• Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings: www.gsa.gov/web/p/hptp.nsf/Guidelines+for+Rehabilitating+Historic+Buildings?OpenView
  
• Technical Preservation Services Publications Catalog: www2.cr.nps.gov/tps/tpscat.htm
  
• Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives: www2.cr.nps.gov/tps/fax/tax_t.htm
  
• Historic Preservation Certification Application: www2.cr.nps.gov/tps/tax/hpcappl.htm
  
• Tax Act Project Status: tps.cr.nps.gov/status

Commercial Sources

• Traditional Building: www.traditional-building.com
  
• Preservation Resource Group (PRG): www.prginc.com/indes.html/
  
• Old House Journal Magazine: www.oldhousejournal.com

Preservation Links

• Preserve Net (The preservation index maintained by Cornell University): www.preservnet.cornell.edu
  
• National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (gopher): www.ncptt.nps.gov
  
• Reconnecting America: http://www.reconnectingamerica.org

Preservation Organizations

• Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois (LPCI): www.landmarks.org
  
• National Conference of State Historic Preservation Offices (NCSHPO): sso.org/ncshpo/index.htm
  
• National Trust for Historic Preservation: www.ntph.org
  
• National Main Street Center: www.mainst.org
  
• Advisory Council on Historic Preservation: www.achp.gov
  
• HABS/HAER: www.loc.gov
  
• Preservation Action: www.preservationaction.org
  
• Preservation Chicago: www.preservationchicago.org

Illinois Historic Resources

• Chicago Commission on Landmarks: www.ci.chi.il.us/landmarks
  
• Illinois and Federal Accessibility Laws and Their Impact on Historic Buildings: http://www.accessoakpark.org
  
• Chicago Bauhaus and Beyond: http://www.chicagobauhausbeyond.org
  
• Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement (Midwest Chapter): http://www.docomomo-us.org/chapters_midwest.shtml