The roof of Adams Memorial Building was beginning to exhibit water damage and had been the subject of decades of efforts to replace – something Dan Goodwin of the Inland Real Estate Group noticed on a 2014 tour, according to a news release from the museum.
“I was reading a Museum document from the 1990s discussing restoration plans and a sign requested that visitors imagine the roof matching the freshly painted red trim around the newly restored windows,” Museum Manager Michelle Podkowa said in a statement. “It occurred to me that this project, though long for us, was much longer than we realized.”
The building, erected in 1891, was originally the site of the Wheaton Public Library for 50 years before the museum moved in. Its original architect, Charles Sumner Frost of Navy Pier design fame, always intended the building to have a red slate roof, though they are often high-priced in exchange for durability.
Read more about the improvements over at My Suburban Life.