Resource Bank receives 2023 Landmarks Illinois awards

DeKALB – Resource Bank N.A. was named a recipient of the 2023 Landmarks Illinois Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Awards.

The recipients were honored at a public ceremony Oct. 27 at the Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago, according to a news release.

The ceremony also celebrated the award’s 30th anniversary. Resource Bank received the leadership award for its tradition of restoring and repurposing historic buildings as bank branches and community rooms. The awards are an annual program that honor preservation efforts across Illinois.

“For over a decade, Resource Bank has become an exemplary leader in the field due to its deep commitment to historic preservation, community engagement and sustainable growth in small-town America,” according to Landmarks Illinois. “They have distinguished themselves by taking a unique path that merges respect for local heritage with modern banking practices, repurposing historic buildings into local bank branches and community rooms in Shabbona [the former Quilhot One-Room Schoolhouse], Hampshire [the former Eakin One-Room Schoolhouse], Sycamore [the former Frederick Townsend Garage, a National Register listing] and Leland [the former Rollo One-Room Schoolhouse and 1897 Yocklich Building].

“The branches have positively and sustainably impacted the local economies, encouraging new business and beautification efforts, providing social infrastructure and reducing the demand for new construction.”

DeKalb, Chicago, Peoria, Aurora, Marion and Maywood projects also earned awards for adaptive reuse and rehabilitation of the state’s historic places and for preserving Illinois’s cultural heritage.

Landmarks Illinois is a membership-based historic preservation nonprofit organization that serves the people of Illinois.

For information, visit landmarks.org.