Tours & Restoration
TOUR UNITY TEMPLE
Unity Temple is an important cultural, architectural, historic and civic asset, in addition to our Congregation’s home. We have long recognized this importance, supporting local, state, national and international landmark designations and restrictions, as well as the creation and efforts of the non-religious Unity Temple Restoration Foundation. For more than 35 years we have increasingly shared Unity Temple with the wider public, now in use for more hours each week for tours, educational programs, and civic events than by our Congregation.
Unity Temple is open for public tours 7 days a week. Tours are run by the Unity Temple Restoration Foundation.
Tour information and hours can be found on their website: www.utrf.org/visit.html
RESTORATION
The restoration of Unity Temple is lead by the Unity Temple Restoration Foundation in partnership with the Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation.
On January 7, 1987, our Congregation donated a preservation easement to the secular, non-profit organization Landmarks Illinois (formerly the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois). This incredible gift insures that Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece Unity Temple will continually move toward restoration, that work at the building will adhere to the highest standards in historic preservation and that Unity Temple will remain open to the public in perpetuity. Easements are a form of ownership over one aspect of a property. It’s possible for a property owner (in this case our Congregation) to give away or sell individual elements of a property without giving up ownership entirely (farmers providing pathways through their fields and air or mineral rights are good examples). In the case of Unity Temple, the control over the historic aspect of the building is shared by Landmarks Illinois and our Congregation.
The Unity Temple Restoration Foundation leads the efforts to restore and preserve Unity Temple, as well as tours and educational offerings.
More information about the preservation efforts can be found at their website: www.utrf.org
