KENILWORTH, Ill., May 11 (UPI) -- So many buildings have been razed in Kenilworth, Ill., that the village was placed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's endangered places list.
At least 47 homes have disappeared in the tiny suburb on Lake Michigan's North Shore 15 miles from Chicago in the past 15 years -- many making way for so-called McMansions. The Historic Trust said the wealthy town is not unique in losing its 20th century architectural treasures.
Built in 1889, Kenilworth was one of the first planned villages in the United States. Fifteen of its 830 houses, which had an average sale price of $1.45 million last year, were torn down since 2004. The village has no preservation ordinance and can delay, but not halt, teardowns, The Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Other landmarks on the list of 11 most-endangered places include New Orleans and towns on the Mississippi Gulf Coast hit by Hurricane Katrina, the Smithsonian Arts & Industries Building in Washington and Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.
