The YWCA Building in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...

was built in 1928. It was designed by

Hewitt, Emerson & Gregg Hewitt & Emerson was an architectural firm based in Peoria, Illinois. It was founded in 1909 as the partnership of architects Herbert E. Hewitt and Frank N. Emerson. After 1927 it was known successively as Hewitt, Emerson & Gregg; Emerson, ...

. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. It sits at 301 Northeast Jefferson Avenue, at the north corner with Fayette Street in downtown Peoria. The Peoria chapter of the YWCA was founded in 1893. By 1928 it had run out of space in its original building; it raised $350,000 in just eight days to build this replacement. This building was dedicated on September 16, 1929. Among its features were an auditorium, swimming pool, chapel, several club rooms, and residential facilities for 86 people. The YWCA moved out of this building in 2003; headquarters moved to 1013 West Lake Avenue in Lakeview Park, where the YWCA had maintained a campground since the late 1960s. Later, partially due to funding a new pool at the YWCA Lakeview building in the 2000s, the Peoria YWCA became financially distressed, moving out of the Lakeview building in 2011 and closing down completely in the summer of 2012. Since April 2008, this building has been New Hope Apartments, supportive housing with 79 apartments. Renovation cost almost $8 million, and new apartments were created in part by building over the top of the pool and inside the space of the former two-story gymnasium. The New Hope project was originally planned for the

International Harvester Building The International Harvester Building is a five-story building in the U.S. city of Peoria, Illinois. The property consists of the 1914 five-story building and a 1925 one-story addition. The building is associated with Peoria's history through trans ...

, also on the National Register of Historic Places, but was blocked by the city government.

References

Affordable housing Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Colonial Revival architecture in Illinois Neoclassical architecture in Illinois Buildings and structures completed in 1928 Buildings and structures in Peoria, Illinois

National Register of Historic Places in Peoria County, Illinois History of women in Illinois {{PeoriaCountyIL-NRHP-stub