Kalo Purchasing Iannelli Studio
For Immediate Release: KALO SET TO
ACQUIRE IANNELLI STUDIO
Betsy Foxwell, president of the Kalo Foundation of Park Ridge, announced
July 13 that Kalo has a signed agreement with the owner’s representatives to
purchase the former Alfonso Iannelli Studio at 255 N. Northwest Highway. It
served as the home and workplace of the sculptor-designer and many other
artists from 1919 until 1966.
Foxwell gave special thanks “to all the people who got behind us with their
boot-strap commitment to bettering our extended community. It’s a great
example of what America is all about.” An anonymous donor’s six-month
challenge grant was key to the foundation making a successful bid. Financial
contributions came via corporate and other Grants, local, regional and
national individual gifts, community service clubs and the Historical
Society, plus student contests at Field and Roosevelt schools. Now, with a
contract in hand, Kalo will send Thank You notes to every donor as soon as
possible.
Rescuing the property and its historic buildings is of major
significance. It is expected to re-energize many facets of Park Ridge. Upon
reopening after needed repairs -- and to be named the ‘Iannelli Studios
Heritage Center’ -- the facility will be part museum, part business &
tourist visitor’s center, part classroom and part working artists’ studio
space. Every aspect of the Park Ridge Art Colony, notably including Kalo
silversmithing, will be celebrated because the foundation sees that cultural
heritage contributing to the community even now as the “shining city on a
hill.”
Iannelli is best known locally for his interior design of the Pickwick
Theatre, the Camp Fire Girls fountain in Hodges Park and the Guard family
monument in the Town of Maine Cemetery. He also designed Sunbeam appliances,
created the Midway Gardens sprite statues for Frank Lloyd Wright, sculpted
the Rock of Gibraltar at Chicago’s Prudential Building, did twelve bronze
Zodiac symbols at the Adler Planetarium, and accomplished highly regarded
work nationally. He served on Park Ridge’s first city planning commission to
help guide appropriate architectural choices as the city grew quickly during
the 1920s.
Kalo expects closing the real estate contract at the end of the summer.
Additional fundraising is needed immediately to cover the costs of repairs
and renovation of the space. Community volunteers skilled in the building
trades are being sought. The studio space itself incorporates an old
blacksmith shop, believed to date back to the years when Park Ridge was a
brick-making center. Recently the property was known as Audrey’s Calico ‘N
Old Lace.
Expert historical and architectural preservationists joined local efforts to
save the complex from
destruction this past winter when a developer sought “tear-down” rezoning to
replace it with multi-family residential units. The Iannellli property was
included in this year’s ‘Ten Most Endangered Places’ by respected Landmarks
Illinois professionals. The last time a Park Ridge building was put on their
list, it did not survive a week. Kalo was determined to give the Iannelli
buildings a better chance; it is also working to get them named to the
National Register.
Improving community awareness of the artists’ on-going importance to Park
Ridge has been a hallmark of Kalo’s efforts since it was organized in 2006.
The Kalo Foundation of Park Ridge
P.O. Box 791
Park Ridge, IL 60068