In 2019, Berggren Architects and conservator Clara Deck performed a Collections Assessment for Preservation (CAP) for the McClean County Museum in Bloomington, Illinois. The museum is housed within the original County Courthouse building, an American Renaissance-style structure built in 1903. Since the relocation of the county government to its new office two blocks away, the building has been the home of both the museum and the McLean County Historical Society. Its collection includes an exhibition on the building itself and an exhibition on the history of McLean County—including Abraham Lincoln’s time spent in Bloomington as an attorney.

Berggren Architects worked with conservator Teri Schindel to put together the report for this building. In our report, we recommended the McLean County Museum restore its rotunda ceiling, install fiber optic lighting, and restore/reinstall its historic light fixtures. We also noted an unusual amount of lichen along with an unidentifiable yellow substance on the building exterior.