Landmarks Illinois announced recently it has awarded a Richard H. Driehaus Award for adaptive reuse to Aurora’s Bloomhaven development.
Bloomhaven is the redevelopment of the 135-year-old former Copley Hospital campus.
The development includes an independent living community for people with intellectual, cognitive and developmental disabilities, senior citizen residences, the East Aurora School District administrative headquarters, a five-acre park and playground and a soon to be VNA Health clinic.
The Driehaus awards are given out annually to exceptional preservation efforts across Illinois.
In addition to the award for Bloomhaven, awards went to projects in Chicago, DeKalb, Maywood, Marion and Peoria. The projects awarded this year include the reuse of the former Tribune Tower and Old Post Office, both in Chicago.
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“Our 2023 award-winners illustrate the incredibly creative ways people are saving our state’s historic places and promoting our cultural heritage,” said Bonnie McDonald, president and CEO of Landmarks Illinois. “As we have seen over the 30 years of our awards program, preservation has a lasting impact on our Illinois communities.”
The awards ceremony will take place Oct. 27 at the Athenaeum Center for Thought and Culture, 2936 N. Southport Ave., Chicago.
This is the second major award Bloomhaven has been given this year.
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, or CMAP, gave both the city and Fox Valley Developers, the Bloomhaven builders, a Regional Excellence Award.
At a City Council meeting on Tuesday, Aurora Ald. William Donnell, 4th Ward, who represents the Bloomhaven area, called the development “one of the most noble projects we have worked on.”
Landmarks Illinois is a membership-based, historic preservation nonprofit organization serving Illinois. The organization works to save places by providing free guidance, practical and financial resources and access to strategic partnerships. For more information, go to www.Landmarks.org.