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Since the 1920s, the demographics of Berwyn have continued to change along with new development, but one thing has remained the same: its bungalows and historic buildings.
In some ways, the leaded-glass windows of Berwyn’s bountiful bungalows and the old terra cotta storefronts on Cermak Road are considered by some to be the most enduring characteristics the city has to offer. Now, several groups are hoping to preserve those buildings even as its larger identity is in flux.
At the moment, Berwyn officially has only four locally designated landmark buildings and one historically landmarked place — the recently designated World War I memorial just off Ogden Avenue. But that number could drastically increase in the coming years if the Berwyn Historic Preservation Commission and a fledgling group called City of Homes (based off Berwyn’s slogan) are successful in their endeavors.
For Matt Schademann, a local photographer and director of the Berwyn Historical Society, preserving the city’s historic places is a way to preserve its character.
The tightly packed bungalow blocks that predominate town tell the story of a massive wave of Czech and Bohemian immigrants who lived in communities knit as closely as their homes, he said. They also show the pride with which the humble — but sturdy — houses were built.
“The quality just isn't there with newer buildings” Schademann explained. “These old bungalows were built with tradition and craftsmanship. You’ll never see that in new buildings nowadays.”
The preservation commission has compiled a list of hundreds of local houses, commercial buildings and even signs they hope to have designated, and City of Homes aims to allow bungalow owners to have their residences landmarked by doing little more than filling out a form.
In February, the preservation commission wrapped up a study in conjunction with the Chicago-based Lakota Group that identified 26 structures that could be deemed historically significant by local or national standards on Cermak Road alone. With that information in hand, members realized they didn’t have the manpower to research, document and then nominate those buildings as landmarks.
Rebecca Houze, historic preservation commission member and associate professor of art history at Northern Illinois University, has led a push to get residents to do some of the work and nominate their favorite buildings as historic landmarks. She’s even gotten several of her graduate students to join the cause by offering an independent study this summer.
Since the 1920s, the demographics of Berwyn have continued to change along with new development, but one thing has remained the same: its bungalows and historic buildings.
In some ways, the leaded-glass windows of Berwyn’s bountiful bungalows and the old terra cotta storefronts on Cermak Road are considered by some to be the most enduring characteristics the city has to offer. Now, several groups are hoping to preserve those buildings even as its larger identity is in flux.
At the moment, Berwyn officially has only four locally designated landmark buildings and one historically landmarked place — the recently designated World War I memorial just off Ogden Avenue. But that number could drastically increase in the coming years if the Berwyn Historic Preservation Commission and a fledgling group called City of Homes (based off Berwyn’s slogan) are successful in their endeavors.
For Matt Schademann, a local photographer and director of the Berwyn Historical Society, preserving the city’s historic places is a way to preserve its character.
The tightly packed bungalow blocks that predominate town tell the story of a massive wave of Czech and Bohemian immigrants who lived in communities knit as closely as their homes, he said. They also show the pride with which the humble — but sturdy — houses were built.
“The quality just isn't there with newer buildings” Schademann explained. “These old bungalows were built with tradition and craftsmanship. You’ll never see that in new buildings nowadays.”
The preservation commission has compiled a list of hundreds of local houses, commercial buildings and even signs they hope to have designated, and City of Homes aims to allow bungalow owners to have their residences landmarked by doing little more than filling out a form.
In February, the preservation commission wrapped up a study in conjunction with the Chicago-based Lakota Group that identified 26 structures that could be deemed historically significant by local or national standards on Cermak Road alone. With that information in hand, members realized they didn’t have the manpower to research, document and then nominate those buildings as landmarks.
Rebecca Houze, historic preservation commission member and associate professor of art history at Northern Illinois University, has led a push to get residents to do some of the work and nominate their favorite buildings as historic landmarks. She’s even gotten several of her graduate students to join the cause by offering an independent study this summer.
“I think this is important because if we don’t preserve these buildings, then we’ll have no sense of where this city came from,” Houze said. “It makes Berwyn a more interesting place and can attract new residents and businesses that want to be a part of our distinctive character.”
Houze and her team of students have helped create a website for the preservation commission, including an interactive map of more than 100 properties they’d like to research as potential historic landmarks.
“If Berwyn seems interesting to a group of grad students from Northern Illinois University, maybe our own residents will take interest, as well,” Houze added.
City of Homes, meanwhile, began as an offshoot of the historic preservation commission but has bloomed into its own nonprofit organization. Its very first program, known as the Berwyn Bungalow Preservation Initiative, lays the groundwork for bungalow owners interested in having their homes declared historic landmarks.
As an incentive, the group is promoting an eight-year property tax freeze for owners of historically designated properties that invest 25 percent of the home’s assessed value into rehabilitating their houses.
That group’s newest marketing plan, “Bungalows on Tap,” will bring together bungalow owners at area bars to share tips and learn rehabilitation techniques from professionals beginning this month.
Although landmark status is offered as an incentive, Richard Bruen, who helped form City of Homes, also wants to encourage people to maintain their historic bungalows. While the structures are a boon for the city, they can quickly become outdated without consistent upkeep.
“I think the bungalow is one of the unique and most desirable features of Berwyn,” Bruen said. “The homes have to be updated and modernized to some extent, but also preserved without losing their character.”
While landmarking and preserving historic structures will help maintain the city’s blue-collar Bohemian roots, both Bruen and Houze think their efforts also will make Berwyn more prosperous in the future.
“Ensuring that those homes get preserved and modernized is a key interest for the city of Berwyn to remain viable,” Bruen said. “A lot of young people are interested in bungalows right now, and we want to let them know that Berwyn has great housing stock and is also a great place to live.”
