Landmarks Illinois has announced its 2025 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois, calling attention to 10 culturally and architecturally significant sites across the state. The places on this year’s list all face uncertain futures due to a variety of threats, including vacancy, neglect, deferred maintenance, demolition, underutilization and lack of landmark protection. The 2025 Most Endangered sites are located in the following counties: Cook, Cumberland, DuPage, Iroquois, Jackson, Kane, Livingston, Logan, Madison, McHenry and St. Clair. A few of the historic sites include:

Chicago Vocational High School
Chicago, Cook County

The immense campus, built between 1938 and 1941 in Chicago’s Avalon Park neighborhood, is home to the city’s largest non-skyscraper example of Art Deco design. The school’s “Anthony Wing,” which formerly housed the heavy industry vocational programs, sits empty while the rest of the Chicago Public School-owned building is significantly underutilized in light of dwindling enrollment.

JJ Walser House
Chicago, Cook County

Built in 1903, this private residence on the busy Central Avenue in Chicago’s Austin neighborhood is a significant example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie-period work and was the longtime home of the Teague family. Today, it sits vacant and in foreclosure, with mounting maintenance needs. A new owner is needed to bring the house back to life as a cultural anchor for Austin. 

Outdoor Theater at the South Shore Cultural Center   
Chicago, Cook County

Years of nonuse and deferred maintenance have taken a toll on the former outdoor theater, constructed in 1920, which is part of the current and otherwise thriving South Shore Cultural Center. Its owner, the Chicago Park District, would like to make necessary repairs to the theater to bring it back into use, but a lack of funds has consistently delayed such work, leaving the theater to continue deteriorating.
For more information or to view the complete list, visit www.landmarks.org.

Photo Credit: Landmarks Illinois