On Dec. 2, 2025, four Crystal Lake City Council members voted to revoke the landmark status from the Crystal Lake Academy building in a 4-2 vote, “... giving a go-ahead for demolition ...” of this irreplaceable home and school from early Crystal Lake history. The first phase of the demolition began on Dec. 31, 2025. Allowing the destruction of this historic home on New Year’s Eve is a shameful way to end 2025 and to bring in the New Year.

The master stone mason who built the Crystal Lake Academy building, also built Crystal Lake’s Colonel Palmer House in 1858, which is protected by Crystal Lake’s Historic Preservation Ordinance and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Simon Gates, Christopher Walkup and other founders of Crystal Lake built the Crystal Lake Academy building in 1853.

The Crystal Lake City Council has the power to protect the Crystal Lake Academy building as a unique and valuable part of Crystal Lake history. The City Council should immediately hold a vote to reinstate the protected landmark status of the Crystal Lake Academy building, stop the demolition, and take on the responsibility to preserve this home as Crystal Lake’s heritage.

Once it is again protected from demolition, the city of Crystal Lake, Crystal Lake residents, businesses and organizations can – as a community – devise a plan for saving and restoring the Crystal Lake Academy building, as a learning laboratory and a community project, using our shared talents, skills, and resources.

Robert Teetsov

Crystal Lake