The 1872 one-room school house was built on David Sholes farm in Burlington, Illinois and is now located at the LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles, Illinois.
2006: Henry B. Fargo House in Geneva Landmarked
2012: HVAC Installed in Fabyan Villa Museum
Before 2012, the 1907 Frank Lloyd-Wright redesigned Fabyan Villa Museum did not have air conditioning. Visiting the second floor was very uncomfortable for visitors in the summer and was very hard on our artifacts. Years of hard work with the Forest Preserve District of Kane County, HVAC experts, and grant writing that secured 70% of the funding brought about this monumental achievement!
In September 2012, J&R Herra, Inc. began installing a geo-exchange system to provide high-efficiency heat and air for the 1907 historic building. "[T]hese systems move or transfer heat from the earth rather than outdoor air. Since earth temperature remains relatively constant throughout the year, geo-exchange systems operate very efficiently. Additionally," we reported in our newsletter, "there is no outdoor unit, so visible modern equipment and weather-related maintenance are eliminated."
Many were surprised to learn that this drilling equipment pictured was for HVAC equipment since geothermal is still a relatively new technology. Now our visitors, volunteers, and artifacts enjoy a consistent, climate-controlled, energy-efficient environment in the Villa.
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SOURCES: "Install Climate Control System in a Historic House Museum," Advocate (Spring 2012), 3; "Fabyan Villa and Garden 2012 Season: New & Improved!" Advocate (Fall 2012), 4.
2003: Durant-Peterson House Museum Prairie Children Program Wins Award
"In February of 1996, a charming letter from a fourth-grade girl who had recently visited the Durant-Peterson House Museum inspired us to begin the volunteer program for youngsters which evolved into the Prairie Children corps [now Junior Docent program]. Seven years later, that nine-year-old is a junior at St. Charles East High School--and still a committed volunteer at our historic site... Linda Saxer, director of the Durant-Peterson House Museum deserves all the credit for starting this program, training youngsters to serve as competent guides, and offering them such perks as candlelight hearth dinners every November.
An extra perk for us: these children are much better than our adult docents at steering visitors to the Donation box!
We feel extra pround about [this award from the Illinois Association of Museums] because we are up against the 'big boys' in the Museum world when these awards are handed out. It's nice to know that when it comes to excellence, we are every bit the equal of the Field Museum and the Chicago Historical Society."
If you are interested in volunteering with this award-winning program, please click the box below for more information.
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SOURCE: "Younger Generation Earns Kudos Too," Advocate (Winter/Spring 2003): 2.