FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 20, 2016 Media Contact: Elisabeth Dunbar Landmarks 815.549.6467 [email protected]

COL. JENNIFER PRITZKER, THE NEAL FAMILY, AND W.E. O’NEIL TO BE HONORED MARCH 7th AT LANDMARKS ILLINOIS’ LEGENDARY LANDMARKS CELEBRATION

CHICAGO – Landmarks Illinois will mark its eleventh annual Legendary Landmarks Celebration by awarding ‘landmark’ status to three civic and cultural leaders: Col. Jennifer N. Pritzker, IL ARNG (Ret.), The Neal Family (Isobel Neal, Jeanette Sublett and Langdon Neal), and construction firm W.E. O’Neil. They will be honored at the Legendary Landmarks Celebration Monday, March 7, 2016 at the Hilton Grand Ballroom, 720 South Michigan Avenue. Cocktails begin at 5:45 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. and a live auction.

“Our three honorees have made significant contributions in cultivating Chicago’s cultural heritage as the sustaining pivot for the city’s growth,” said Bonnie McDonald, President and CEO of Landmarks Illinois. “Not only does Jennifer Pritzker value historic preservation, she willingly acts as a catalyst for change. W.E. O’Neil is a leader in sustainable building practices including completing an impressive portfolio of renovation projects, and the Neal Family continues to leave a legacy of community service and dedication to preservation and stewardship in Chicago.”

Mike Faron, representing W.E. O’Neil will be introduced at the celebration by Dan McCaffery, CEO of McCaffery Interests, Pritzker will be introduced by President Emeritus of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Lew Collens, and The Neal Family will be introduced by Joan Harris, president of the Irving Harris Foundation.

Event Co-Chairs are Joseph Antunovich, AIA, Lew Collens, and Dan McCaffery. Celebration Host Committee Chair is Sandra Rand. Celebration committee members include, Madeline Gelis, Shelley Gorson, Krista Gnatt, Frieda Ireland, Karen Prieur, Janet Rotner and Martin V. Sinclair, Jr.

Ticket Information Tickets are $500/person. Patron tickets are $1000/person. Table reservations range from $5,000/ten person table, $10,000/ten person table and $25,000/ten person table. For reservations please call PJH & Associates 312.553.2000 or online at www.pjhchicago.com/Landmarks. For information on Landmarks Illinois, visit www.Landmarks.org.

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Event Background The Legendary Landmarks Celebration has honored noted Chicagoans since 2006 for their contributions to the city’s civic and cultural legacy, and their belief that a great city is defined by its legendary architecture. Proceeds from the Legendary Landmarks Celebration will in part benefit Landmarks Illinois’ Preservation Heritage Grant Fund, which provides essential financial assistance for the revitalization of historically and architecturally significant properties statewide. This investment, in turn, encourages economic growth, creates jobs, promotes tourism and safeguards a sense of place, identity and quality of life for generations to come.

About the 2016 Honorees Corporate Legendary Landmark W.E. O’Neil was founded in 1925 in Chicago and has offices in Denver, Los Angeles, Nashville, Phoenix, and Tucson. Their award-winning family of construction companies, both employee and family owned, is recognized as an industry leader, bringing an impressive history of customers and projects from Connecticut to California and many points between. Moving from labor only to heavy machinery to state-of-the-art technology, W.E. O’Neil still maintains its focus on teamwork, customer satisfaction, and integrity, corporate values that have remained constant for close to a century.

W.E. O’Neil’s many notable historical renovation projects include The Chicago Theatre, Oriental, Palace and Auditorium Theatres, Medinah Temple Bloomingdale’s, The Mather Building and 111 West Adams Building into Club Quarters Hotels, as well as their very own corporate headquarters at 1245 West Washington Boulevard in Chicago. Mike Faron currently serves as Chairman of the Chicago Office of W.E. O’Neil.

Legendary Landmark Colonel Jennifer N. Pritzker is a retired U.S. Army officer, investor, and philanthropist. Col. Pritzker is President and CEO of Tawani Enterprises, Inc., President of the Tawani Foundation, and Founder and Chair of the Pritzker Military Museum & Library. Pritzker served in the U.S. Army, Army Reserve, and Illinois Army National Guard from which she retired in 2001 as a lieutenant colonel with an honorary promotion to full colonel in the Illinois Army National Guard. She is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago with a B.A. in History and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and received an honorary doctorate from Norwich University where she served as an active trustee for 10 years.

Col. Jennifer Pritzker is guided by her core belief that it is important to build inherent value in any business entity one owns. As an investor and philanthropist with an emphasis on communities, she is passionate about restoration, preservation and property management and understands it requires serious commitment and resources. The list of Col. Pritzker’s real estate achievements is impressive: the Monroe Building; Farcroft by the Lake; the Emil Bach House; the Mayne Stage; the Lang House Bed & Breakfast; Stone Porch by the Lake; and the restored row houses and new construction on Chicago’s Chestnut Street. With access to capital and dedicated to successful undertakings, Pritzker is able to create wealth, uplift communities, modernize neighborhoods, improve the quality of life, and make an impact in a positive way.

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For three generations, The Neal Family has collectively championed Chicago as a world-class city and left their mark on its physical and cultural landscape. Originally established in 1938 by Earl J. Neal, the law firm of Neal & Leroy has advised and represented clients in the designation, development and protection of historic landmarks and landmark districts including the Reliance Building, the Chicago Theater, properties in the Motor Row District, and the recent relocation of the landmark Rees House to name a few. His son Earl L. Neal joined the firm in 1955 and it is now one of the oldest minority owned and operated firms in the . Earl shared his life with Isobel Hoskins Neal for 49 years.

Isobel Neal is a patron of the arts who has long cultivated Chicago's robust cultural community. She opened the Isobel Neal Gallery which operated for ten years in the gallery district as she saw the need to promote and represent African American artists. Mrs. Neal currently serves as a Life Trustee on the Board of Trustees of the Art Institute of Chicago where she also is a member of the Leadership Advisory Committee and the Museum Education Committee; Chicago Sister Cities International Casablanca Committee; and the University of Chicago Women’s Board.

The Neal family’s impact on Chicago continues through Earl and Isobel Neal’s son, Langdon Neal, Managing Partner and owner of Neal & Leroy, along with his wife Jeanette Sublett, also a Managing Partner at the firm. Mr. Neal joined the firm in 1981 and has advised and represented municipalities, public agencies, and other public trusts in the areas of real estate transactions, zoning, land use and development, and public/private transactions. Similarly, Ms. Sublett has acquired property to create public parks surrounding historic structures including the campus park adjacent to Wendell Phillips Academy High School, designated a Chicago Landmark in 2003, and preserving historic buildings in connection with the City of Chicago’s 47th Street Redevelopment Project. The Neal Family is the first to be recognized as a Family Legendary Landmark.

Past Legendary Landmarks have included: Abbott; Founder and President of Antunovich Associates Joseph Antunovich; Joffrey Ballet Artistic Director Gerald Arpino; Major League Hall of Fame baseball player Ernie Banks; Grace Barry; civic leader John Bryan; banker and philanthropist Norman Bobins and his wife Virginia; Bulley & Andrews; Richard Driehaus; Lee Flaherty; Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates; art gallery owner Richard Gray; Leslie Hindman; Chicago International Film Festival Founder Michael Kutza; jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis; Susan and Lew Manilow; former Field Museum President John McCarter; Alexandra and John Nichols; award winning actor, director, writer and producer Harold Ramis; Bernie and Jane Sahlins; Chicago Cultural Historian Tim Samuelson; photographer Victor Skrebneski; Target; Vice Chairman of Terlato Wine Group John A. Terlato and Terlato Wines; award-winning architect John Vinci; Father Jack Wall; Chicago’s past Cultural Commissioner Lois Weisberg; and Chicago Blackhawks owner and business leader Rocky Wirtz.

About Landmarks Illinois Landmarks Illinois (LI) was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit by Illinois citizens concerned about the future of the state’s architectural and cultural landmarks. We are a voice for historic

Page 3 of 4 resources working alongside citizens, property owners, and decision makers to create a successful future for these places. LI exists to be a source of information, assistance, and inspiration to those who seek to preserve every community’s unique sense of place. We work statewide to empower property owners, local governments, and developers with needed financial and policy tools to facilitate historic preservation projects. We advocate for the preservation of our existing infrastructure, including housing, transportation networks, commercial centers, parks and open space, as key elements of a culturally vibrant community, a successful economic development strategy, and sustainability platform. For more information, visit www.Landmarks.org. ###

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