BISHOP HILL, Ill. — Bishop Hill, a small village in Henry County, is evaluating options to preserve its historic buildings while it waits on state funding for repairs.
Four of its 19th-century buildings are owned by the Illinois DNR, which has controlled historic sites since 2017. When that change happened, residents said the IDNR received no additional funding to care for the sites. Residents said the agency has been behind on maintenance since then.
John Taylor owns the Bishop Hill Creative Commons, a shared art studio. He said he's concerned about the condition of the state-owned properties.
"This was probably the most important building for the colony, the first building that was built and basically kind of a center of life for the existence of the colony," Taylor said of the Colony Church, built in 1848. "Obviously, you can see that the paint is chipping and a lot of it is gone. And a lot of these boards are damaged. But then there's also a lot of issues with the foundation because of water entry."
Buildings owned by the Illinois DNR in Bishop Hill
Inside the church sanctuary, a section of the ceiling has fallen in, exposing wood underneath.
Joella Krause, a descendant of the original colonists, has been asking the state to fund repairs for years.
"This is what they came for, was for religious freedom," Krause said. "And now this symbol is just deteriorating before our very eyes."
State Rep. Travis Weaver (R-Kewanee) is also advocating for the village.
"Nobody's asking for a handout. Nobody's asking for grant funding," Weaver said. "All that we're asking the state to do is to take care of property that they own."
In an email, the IDNR said Bishop Hill is one of 10 priority projects. But with an estimated cost of $22 million, residents are prepared to pitch in.
"We're working on a memorandum with the IDNR to determine what they'll allow citizens to do," Weaver said. "Because there's roofers, there's electricians, there's plumbers, there's painters who want to do work for the IDNR for these buildings, for free. All we need the IDNR to do is allow them to do that."
In a statement, the IDNR said it has met with Bishop Hill residents, and "shares their concerns about the condition of the site." The agency said it's trying to tackle $1 billion in deferred maintenance projects at state parks, historic sites and other facilities around the state.
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