The Illinois National Guard Armory, 605 N. Main St., Rockford, was built starting in 1936. It has been owned by the city since 2006. The building is shown on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, in Rockford. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — A local developer is looking to garner support for his pitch to transform the vacant former Armory into a civil rights museum named for one of Rockford’s founders Lewis Lemon.

Oliver Emerson Jr. made the plans public on Sunday, launching a Change.org petition to ask the community to back the transformation plans. He is the first to pitch a project publicly since City Council members decided last week to list the property for sale.

“We are not Chicago, we are not Milwaukee: Rockford has its own civil rights history here, Black history here, that we need to talk about,” Emerson Jr. said. “I just don’t think that we talk about it enough.”

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Emerson, who has two other projects pending with the city, isn’t the only developer interested in the 57,000-square-foot Art Deco building at 605 N. Main St. It will be up to City Council members to decide who to sell the site to in order to give it what they feel is the best redevelopment use.

“Now that I know the city is offering to sell the building to the right developer, of course we want to throw our hat in first,” Emerson Jr. said.

City Administrator Todd Cagnoni said city staff had spoken with multiple potential developers before seeking authorization from aldermen to put the property up for sale. Since City Council gave its OK, even more have come forward to inquire about the property, he said.

“It’s great to see that there’s more interest in the building,” Cagnoni said.

City Council members aren’t tied to any timeline for when they have to decide who to sell the building to for its next use.

The city has owned the property since it was donated in 2006. The historic building served as the headquarters for various Illinois National Guard units until 1993, when the National Guard moved to Machesney Park. It was later the OIC Vocational Institute from 1996-1999 and sat vacant for years after.

Emerson envisions the Lewis Lemon African American and Civil Rights Museum, which aims to honor the contributions of African Americans to Rockford’s history, raise civil rights awareness and serve as an educational and cultural hub for the community. The cost is estimated at $50 million, according to the Change.org petition.

The former Illinois National Guard Armory, 605 N. Main St., was built starting in 1936 by Sjostrom & Sons and designed by Bradley & Bradley. Now vacant, it’s shown on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (Photo by Kevin Haas/Rock River Current)

Emerson Jr. said it could work in collaboration with the Ethnic Heritage Museum, 1129 S. Main St., which houses six galleries that shaped Rockford’s early culture: African-American, Irish, Italian, Lithuanian, Polish, and Hispanic.

“I believe that a museum is the best purpose for it. We’re open for all ideas and different names, but we do want to make sure that we have some civil rights, African-American art and history in there as well,” he said.

Emerson’s development group, Oliver Emerson Development, is also working on plans to redevelop the nearly 150-year-old former Watch Factory at 325 S. Madison St. and the former Trekk building, 134 N. Main St., which was built as the city’s first Walgreens in 1918.

While those two projects progress, Emerson Jr. said his company would seek a co-developer to aid in the restoration of the Armory.

“We have a few in mind that we are privately going to reach out to,” Emerson Jr. said. “We know what we can bring to the table outside of cash equity, but also some of the sweat equity. We have some powerful developers in mind that we know that we can work together with that can help us bring this idea to fruition.”

Read the petition

Go HERE to see the online petition at Change.org.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas