Renovation Update at Bishop Hill State Historic Site August 28, 2025

Dear Bishop Hill community partners,

                It’s been a few months since my last update on the progress of the Capital Development Board’s (CDB) project to restore the Colony Church and several other structures in Bishop Hill. I have been waiting for some additional information before I updated everyone but I don’t want to wait any longer on an update.

                JLK – the architecture firm handling the design of the renovations – has submitted their first round of drawings and documentation for CDB & IDNR review. Think of these as very rough drafts that we will work with CDB and JLK to refine until we have our final detailed drawings for construction to begin. Here are the highlights:

• The Colony Church is top priority, with the work to stabilize the building and allow for continued occupancy of the sanctuary space taking up about 10% of the overall estimated budget

• Many of the interior repairs and upgrades at the Colony Church – new lighting, exterior receptacles, and water service upgrades for example – will not be included in this work, but the Church structure will be stable when the work is done; things like new lights and interior painting can be done out of our operating budget in the coming years

• The Bjorklund Hotel will also be stabilized and life safety issues addressed, but very little cosmetic work will be done

• The Boys Dormitory will be stabilized and life safety issues addressed, but no further work will be done at this time

• The Colony Church Restroom building will have some exterior envelope repairs – siding, doors, windows, roof, etc. – done with some limited MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing) repairs as well

• The current plan is to demolish the shed – it is not historically relevant to the period of significance and we can use the money that would go towards it elsewhere in the project

As we anticipated, some good news and some bad news. Hopefully some additional funding becomes available in order to expand the scope of the project and I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything on that front.

CDB is mobilizing a crew in the coming months to do some stabilization work on the Colony Church so you may be seeing some folks on site. This is NOT the beginning of the renovation work, but rather some work that needs to be done to guarantee the Colony Church is in good shape when the renovations do begin.

Best wishes to you all, and as always – don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions.

Thanks!

Jeff Nevins

He/him/his

Historic Sites Division Manager

Illinois Department of Natural Resources

1 Natural Resources Way, Springfield, IL  62702

Office: 217-785-9383

Cell: 217-299-3089

Email: Jeffrey.Nevins@illinois.gov