Donations sought for roof repairs on Park Ridge’s Iannelli Studios

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Crews make foundation repairs to the Iannelli Studios Heritage Center in Park Ridge. | Contributed photo

Updated: January 30, 2012 8:18AM

For Park Ridge’s Kalo Foundation, the surviving remnants of the city’s art history are priceless.

Maintaining them, however, is not.

When the non-profit organization purchased artist Alfonso Iannelli’s former home and studio at 225 N. Northwest Hwy. in August, members soon discovered they had their work cut out for them.

The building, renamed Iannelli Studios Heritage Center, has a roof that leaks. Badly. Pipes carrying water, frozen during several prior winters when the building and its additions were vacant, had burst. Heating units and lighting fixtures were no longer operational. A family of raccoons had moved into the attic.

More recently construction crews were hired to make $32,000 in structural repairs after a study revealed the building was potentially unsafe.

Addressing the studio’s various needs has cost roughly $55,000, Kalo President Betsy Foxwell estimated. This does not include replacing the roof.

“It’s imperative to get it done as quickly as possible,” Foxwell said.

But that requires funds. In order to start the roof project, and keep up with regular utility payments, the Kalo Foundation is again reaching out to supporters and the community for help.

“We’ll pursue ways to raise money and hopefully people will be as generous as they have all year,” Foxwell said.

“We have every intention of being self-sustaining,” she added. “We just got hit with a lot.”

Many of the building’s problems were known to the Kalo Foundation last summer, Foxwell said, but the extent of the structual damage to the foundation was not. The structural engineer hired by Kalo prior to the real estate closing had reportedly said that repairs could wait for another year. A second engineer had a different opinion.

“Landmarks Illinois and the National Historic Trust gave us money to have a structural engineer evaluate the building and he said no way could it be occupied the way it is,” Foxwell said.

Work was completed within the last month. Other projects, like electrical work and cleaning, have been undertaken by volunteers, many of them Kalo Foundation members.

“Our board has been amazing,” Foxwell said. “I knew they were wonderful people, but I didn’t know how wonderful until we put their feet to the fire.”

The Kalo Foundation has also received help from outside sources. For his Eagle Scout project local Boy Scout Mike Kapst has volunteered to rehab a section of the building where the Kalo Foundation hopes to display Kalo silver pieces once crafted in Park Ridge. The ceiling, lighting and floor will be replaced and a large cooler which once held flowers when the building was a flower shop will be turned into a safe for the silver, Foxwell said.

Iannelli Studios is currently under consideration for local landmark designation by the Park Ridge City Council. The Kalo Foundation hopes to open the building to the community and showcase Park Ridge’s art history while giving current artists a place to work.

Anyone interested in making a contribution for repairs to the Iannelli Studios Heritage Center is asked to visit the Kalo Foundation’s website at www.kalofoundation.org. The Kalo Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization so contributions are tax deductible, according to members.