Editing Unity Temple (section)

==== 2000s ====
[[File:Unity Temple - Oak Park IL 7 (3224987418).jpg|thumb|Detail of the balcony railing in the auditorium]]

Unity Temple still had serious mechanical and structural issues in the 21st century.<ref name="Building Design & Construction 2001" /><ref name="Pierre l011">{{cite news |last=Pierre |first=Robert E. |date=January 21, 2003 |title=Saving the Wright Stuff Is A Mission for Illinois Church |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/01/21/saving-the-wright-stuff-is-a-mission-for-illinois-church/21c86a71-6496-4127-95a5-90247e35a491/ |access-date=February 8, 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post |issn=0190-8286 |page=A3 |id={{ProQuest|2267542368}} }}</ref> The building had no air-conditioning system, leading to significant temperature fluctuations;<ref name="Pierre l011" /> the temperature sometimes reached {{Convert|125|F}} during the summer.<ref name="Kamin 1999">{{cite news |last=Kamin |first=Blair |date=February 14, 1999 |title=Crumbling Icons Some of Frank Lloyd Wright's Greatest Buildings Are Falling Apart. But the Bigger Question is: What Can We Do to Save Them? |work=Chicago Tribune |issn=1085-6706 |page=1 |id={{ProQuest|418855393}} }}</ref> The temple's roof sagged significantly, while the interiors were damaged by carbon-dioxide buildups and humidity.<ref name="Knecht p. 173">{{harvnb|Knecht|2001|ps=.|page=173 }}</ref><ref name="Building Design & Construction 2001">{{Cite magazine |date=Jan 2001 |title=Temple undoomed |magazine=Building Design & Construction |page=9 |volume=42 |issue=1 |id={{ProQuest|211013541}} }}</ref> The art glass, which had cracked due to repeated [[Freeze and thaw|freezing and thawing]] over the years, needed to be repaired.<ref name="Southern Illinoisan 2005" /> The concrete facade had become cracked and [[spall]]ed,<ref name="Building Design & Construction 2001" /><ref name="Pierre l011" /> and [[condensation]] had built up within the walls, causing it to rain inside.<ref name="Kamin 1999" /> There were also leaks from the drains inside the building.<ref name="Kamin x694" /> Workers began removing concrete samples from the facade in January 2000 in preparation for a wider-ranging renovation.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bentrup |first=Cheri |date=January 12, 2000 |title=Work crews tend to Unity Temple |url=https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=restoration&i=f&d=01012000-12312002&e=unity%20temple&m=between&ord=e1,k1&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_river_forest_20000112_english_9&df=1&dt=10 |access-date=February 7, 2025 |work=Forest Leaves |page=9 }}</ref> After the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois labeled the building among Illinois's most endangered structures that March,<ref name="Mendell 2000">{{Cite news |last=Mendell |first=David |date=March 22, 2000 |title=McPier building, DuPage Theatre on endangered list |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-mcpier-building-dupage/164950216/ |access-date=February 8, 2025 |work=Chicago Tribune |issn=1085-6706 |pages=2.2 }}</ref><ref name="Oak Leaves 20000329">{{cite web |last=Blaser |first=Randy |date=March 29, 2000 |title=How Unity Temple won $1 million |url=https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=restoration&i=f&d=01012000-12312002&e=unity%20temple&m=between&ord=e1,k1&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_river_forest_20000329_english_7&df=1&dt=10 |access-date=February 7, 2025 |work=Forest Leaves |pages=7, [https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=restoration&i=f&d=01012000-12312002&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_river_forest_20000329_english_14&df=1&dt=10 14] }}</ref> the state government gave Unity Temple $1 million for restoration.<ref>{{cite news |last=Donato |first=Marla |date=May 2, 2000 |title=State to Give $1 Million to Unity Temple to Restore Wright's Design |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2000/05/02/state-to-give-1-million-to-unity-temple-to-restore-wrights-design/ |access-date=January 30, 2025 |work=Chicago Tribune |issn=1085-6706 |page=2C3 |id={{ProQuest|419106688}} }}</ref><ref name="Oak Leaves 20000329" />

By late 2000, workers were about to restore the concrete.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bentrup |first=Cheri |date=December 27, 2000 |title=Unity Temple repairs to begin in February |url=https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=restoration&i=f&d=01012000-12312002&e=unity%20temple&m=between&ord=e1,k1&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_river_forest_20001227_english_10&df=1&dt=10 |access-date=February 7, 2025 |work=Forest Leaves |page=10 }}</ref> This work was part of a larger, three-phase project<ref name="Building Design & Construction 2001" /><ref>{{harvnb|Knecht|2001|ps=.|page=174 }}</ref> which would cost up to $5 million.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mannion |first=Annemarie |date=September 27, 2000 |title=Prairie home companion |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-prairie-home-companiona/164948098/ |access-date=February 8, 2025 |work=Chicago Tribune |issn=1085-6706 |pages=135 }}</ref> Holes were cut into the facade, and the underlying rebar was replaced.<ref>{{harvnb|Knecht|2001|ps=.|pages=173–174 }}</ref> Fern C. Stanley was appointed as interim pastor in August 2002.<ref name="Kates 2003">{{Cite news |last=Kates |first=Joan Giangrasse |date=May 25, 2003 |title=Oak Park cleric helped Oklahoma after bombing |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-oak-park-cleric-helped-o/164978324/ |access-date=February 8, 2025 |work=Chicago Tribune |issn=1085-6706 |pages=4.11 }}</ref> After her death in May 2003,<ref name="Kates 2003" /><ref>{{cite web |date=January 18, 2005 |title=Unity Temple installs new minister |url=https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?i=f&d=01012005-12312006&e=unity%20temple&m=between&ord=e1&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_river_forest_20050118_english_92&df=1&dt=10 |access-date=February 7, 2025 |work=Forest Leaves |page=92 }}</ref> Alan Taylor became Unity Temple's pastor the same year.<ref name="Oak Leaves 20030910" /> At that point, there were 359 congregants,<ref name="Oak Leaves 20030910">{{cite web |last=Bentrup |first=Cheri |date=September 10, 2003 |title=Taylor at helm of Unity congregation |url=https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=taylor&i=f&d=01012000-12312009&e=unity%20temple&m=between&ord=e1,k1&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_river_forest_20030910_english_63&df=1&dt=10 |access-date=February 7, 2025 |work=Forest Leaves |page=65 }}</ref> though Taylor helped double the congregation's size during his 18-year tenure.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schwing |first=John |date=September 7, 2023 |title=Minister takes 'hybrid' pulpit at UUWestport |url=https://westportjournal.com/community/minister-takes-hybrid-pulpit-at-uuwestport/ |access-date=January 31, 2025 |website=Westport Journal }}</ref> The Landmarks Preservation Council provided $100,000 for a [[geothermal heating]] upgrade in 2004,<ref name="Oak Leaves 20041027">{{Cite news |last=Dardick |first=Hal |date=October 7, 2004 |title=Wright's temple gets repair help |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-wrights-temple-gets-rep/164943767/ |access-date=February 8, 2025 |work=Chicago Tribune |issn=1085-6706 |pages=2.3 }}</ref><ref name="Oak Leaves 20041027a">{{cite web |last=Bentrup |first=Cheri |date=October 27, 2004 |title=Unity Temple gets preservation grant |url=https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?i=f&d=01012003-12312004&e=unity%20temple&m=between&ord=e1&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_river_forest_20041027_english_8&df=1&dt=10 |access-date=February 7, 2025 |work=Forest Leaves |page=8 }}</ref> which was part of the first phase of a $12–15 million renovation.<ref name="Oak Leaves 20041027a" /><ref name="Stuart k623">{{cite web |last=Stuart |first=Laura |date=November 8, 2005 |title=The greening of Unity Temple |url=https://www.oakpark.com/2005/11/08/the-greening-of-unity-temple/ |access-date=January 27, 2025 |website=Wednesday Journal }}</ref><ref name="AR-2006-02">{{cite magazine |last=Bowen |first=Ted Smalley |date=Feb 2006 |title=Unity Temple will use geothermal energy after its first major restoration |url=https://usmodernist.org/AR/AR-2006-02.pdf |magazine=Architectural Record |pages=139–140 |volume=194 |issue=2 |id={{ProQuest|222131743}} }}</ref> The Restoration Foundation planned to patch the concrete<ref name="Stuart k623" /> and add a [[heating, ventilation, and air conditioning]] system.<ref name="Oak Leaves 20041027" /><ref name="Hampton b253">{{cite web |last=Van Hampton |first=Tudor |date=November 25, 2009 |title=As More Buildings Go Geothermal, Project Teams Are Thinking Outside the Borehole |url=https://www.enr.com/articles/58-as-more-buildings-go-geothermal-project-teams-are-thinking-outside-the-borehole?page=3 |access-date=January 27, 2025 |website=Engineering News-Record }}</ref> The third and final phase would entail restoration of the interior.<ref name="Stuart k623" /><ref name="Hampton b253" /> Gunny Harboe, a restoration architect based in nearby Chicago, was hired to design a restoration of the temple.<ref name="Dardick 2004" /> A test well for the heating system was installed in late 2005.<ref name="Southern Illinoisan 2005">{{Cite news |date=October 3, 2005 |title=Going 'green' at Unity Temple |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/southern-illinoisan-going-green-at-uni/164983161/ |access-date=February 8, 2025 |work=Southern Illinoisan |pages=21 |agency=Associated Press }}</ref><ref name="Stuart k623" /> The congregation continued to host tours,<ref name="Pierre l011" /> and it sold off furniture and furnishings to raise money.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=May–June 2003 |title=Vase and chairs sold to preserve Wright church |magazine=UU World : The Magazine of the Unitarian Universalist Association |page=50 |volume=17 |issue=3 |id={{ProQuest|201556250}} }}</ref><ref name="Weekend Chicago Defender 2003">{{Cite news |date=October 4, 2003 |title=BauHaus Apprenticeship Institute donates replicas of heirloom chairs to Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple |work=Weekend Chicago Defender |page=36 |id={{ProQuest|2572615518}} }}</ref>

By the mid-2000s, the temple attracted 25–30 thousand annual visitors, many of them from outside the U.S.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bentrup |first=Cheri |date=January 5, 2005 |title=Unity Temple to mark Wright's visit to Japan |url=https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?i=f&d=01012005-12312006&e=unity%20temple&m=between&ord=e1&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_river_forest_20050105_english_13&df=1&dt=10 |access-date=February 7, 2025 |work=Forest Leaves |page=13 }}</ref> Because parts of the temple were still being used as offices and classrooms, they could not be renovated until the congregation obtained additional space.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 10, 2006 |title=May 13 view proposed designs for Unity Temple |url=https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?i=f&d=01012005-12312006&e=unity%20temple&m=between&ord=e1&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_river_forest_20060510_english_98&df=1&dt=10 |access-date=February 7, 2025 |work=Forest Leaves |pages=98, [https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?i=f&d=01012005-12312006&e=unity%20temple&m=between&ord=e1&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_river_forest_20060510_english_99&df=1&dt=10 99] }}</ref> Part of the ceiling collapsed around 2008;<ref name="Johnson o698">{{cite web |last=Johnson |first=Steve |date=July 29, 2015 |title=Fixing Frank: Unity Temple gets a sorely needed $23 million restoration |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2015/07/29/fixing-frank-unity-temple-gets-a-sorely-needed-23-million-restoration/ |access-date=January 29, 2025 |website=Chicago Tribune |issn=1085-6706 }}</ref> the water damage was attributed to the lack of [[expansion joint]]s and a flat roof.<ref name="Stempniak w160">{{cite web |last=Stempniak |first=Marty |date=April 28, 2009 |title=Unity Temple lands on national endangered list |url=https://www.oakpark.com/2009/04/28/unity-temple-lands-on-national-endangered-list/ |access-date=January 29, 2025 |website=Wednesday Journal }}</ref> A huge piece of the left wall had cracked open,<ref name="Johnson o698" /> and there were cracks in the facade and leaks throughout the building.<ref name="Working 2008">{{Cite news |last=Working |first=Russell |date=December 17, 2008 |title=Unity Temple captures $200,000 federal grant |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-unity-temple-captures-2/164304954/ |access-date=January 30, 2025 |work=Chicago Tribune |issn=1085-6706 |pages=1.30 }}</ref> Unity Temple received a $200,000 [[matching funds]] grant in December 2008 through the [[Save America's Treasures]] program,<ref name="Working 2008" /><ref>{{cite web |date=December 22, 2008 |title=Unity Temple wins $200K grant |url=https://www.oakpark.com/2008/12/22/unity-temple-wins-200k-grant/ |access-date=January 30, 2025 |website=Wednesday Journal }}</ref> contingent on the congregation raising an equivalent amount for the temple's restoration.<ref name="Stempniak w160" /> The next year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation added Unity Temple to its [[America's Most Endangered Places]] list,<ref name="Stempniak w160" /><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Lacayo |first=Richard |date=April 27, 2009 |title=The Eleven Most Endangered Historic Sites |url=https://entertainment.time.com/2009/04/27/the-eleven-most-endangered-historic-sites/ |access-date=January 29, 2025 |magazine=Time |postscript=none}}; {{Cite news |last=Pogrebin |first=Robin |date=April 27, 2009 |title=Preservation Group Lists Most Endangered Places |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/arts/design/28enda.html?_r&#61;1 |access-date=January 29, 2025 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |language=en-US }}</ref> and the temple received more than $82,000 for visitor services such as tours and brochures.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vassolo |first=Elizabeth |date=September 10, 2009 |title=Unity Temple awarded improvement grant |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-unity-temple-awarded-imp/165012651/ |access-date=February 8, 2025 |work=Chicago Tribune |issn=1085-6706 |pages=0.1 }}</ref> By then, the renovation was scheduled to cost $20–25 million,<ref>{{cite web |last=Dechter |first=Felicia |date=September 24, 2009 |title=Gala to celebrate 100 years of Unity Temple |url=https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?i=f&d=01012007-12312009&e=unity%20temple&m=between&ord=e1&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_river_forest_20090924_english_12&df=11&dt=20 |access-date=February 9, 2025 |work=Forest Leaves |pages=12, [https://riverforest.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?i=f&d=01012007-12312009&e=unity%20temple&m=between&ord=e1&fn=forest_leaves_usa_illinois_river_forest_20090924_english_15&df=11&dt=20 15] }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Von Rhein |first=John |date=May 14, 2009 |title=Chicago Chamber Musicians to help Unity Temple effort |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-chicago-chamber-musician/165011944/ |access-date=February 8, 2025 |work=Chicago Tribune |issn=1085-6706 |page=3.3 }}</ref> and the Restoration Foundation hoped to raise more money for restoration if the building were designated as a [[World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bergin |first=Mary |date=June 26, 2016 |title=Take Ten: Frank Lloyd Wright sites |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/kenosha-news-take-ten-frank-lloyd-wrigh/161909130/ |access-date=December 30, 2024 |work=Kenosha News |pages=45 }}</ref>