By Siraj Asfahani | October 13, 2011
The Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association recognized the City of Naperville’s historic preservation program with a 2011 Chapter “Best Practice” Award during the Illinois Chapter’s annual conference last week in Evanston. Naperville undertook a two-year community engagement process to strengthen its local historic preservation program by revising its historic preservation ordinance, reconstituting the Historic Preservation Commission and developing a new set of design guidelines. In 2009, the City of Naperville engaged Lakota and Bailey Edwards Architecture of Chicago to prepare the design guidelines, titled the Historic Building and Design Resource Manual, for use by the Historic Preservation Commission for its design review process and in educating owners of historic properties on appropriate building maintenance and preservation methods. The Manual covers topics such as historic architectural styles, building material maintenance, window conservation, energy efficiency, and new additions and infill development. The Naperville Historic Preservation Commission formally adopted the Manual on April 22, 2010. Lakota and Bailey Edwards are proud to be a part of the award-winning effort.