Chicago Honors Its Black Landmarks: Three South Side Sites Win Preservation Grants in Dr. Timuel D. Black Jr.’s Name

Three Black Chicago landmarks are getting the care they deserve. Landmarks Illinois has announced the three recipients of its 2026 Preservation Heritage Fund grants through the Timuel D. Black Jr. Grant Fund for Chicago’s South Side — $25,000 in total going to Black-led preservation projects where the history is rich and the resources have too often been scarce.

Monumental Baptist Church, Bronzeville — $10,000. The landmark congregation at 729 E. Oakwood Blvd. receives $10,000 to restore its front limestone stairs, and every dollar stays in the community: the work will be done by Chicago’s own Clayco Construction and Black-owned J. O’Neal Enterprise. Monumental Baptist was designated a Chicago Landmark in 2022 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places this year, and it holds African American Heritage Landmark status. The restoration honors a restoration architect and longtime Landmarks Illinois supporter.

Schlitz Tied House, Englewood — $10,000. The historic tied house at 6331 S. Stewart Ave. — built in 1907 and one of only six surviving buildings of its kind in Chicago — receives $10,000 toward a structural conditions assessment. The Englewood Real Estate Development Corp. is leading the effort to restore the long-vacant building and bring it back as Illa Café, a Black woman-owned coffee shop. The tied house was landmarked in 2023 and holds African American Heritage Landmark status.

St. Thomas Lutheran Church, South Shore — $5,000. The church at 8000 S. Jeffery Blvd., built in 1917 and part of the Jackson Park Highlands District, receives $5,000 to fix window and exterior wall leaks in its nursery school. Like the other two sites, it holds African American Heritage Landmark status.

The fund carries the name of Dr. Timuel D. Black Jr. — the legendary South Side historian, educator, and civil rights activist who spent a century documenting Black Chicago. Keeping his name on work like this feels right: these are the buildings that hold our stories, and now three more of them get to keep standing tall.