Unity Temple Restoration Foundation, the non-profit that has functioned to keep the famous Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Unity Temple in good condition, will be dissolved Oct. 31.
The restoration foundation, which has been active for half a century, worked side-by-side with the separate Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation, the congregation that worships in the temple. Through that partnership, called Unity Temple Preservation, the two organizations handled temple maintenance, according to Amanda Kaleta-Kott, the congregation’s co-chair.
Now that the foundation is coming to an end, Kaleta-Kott said the congregation is looking to others to ensure the building, built in 1908, stays fit for visitors, events and churchgoers.
“At this point, we are looking for other ways to work with people that understand the needs that this special building has,” she said.
Those people with whom the congregation is looking to work, Kaleta-Kott said, are “experts in the field of building conservation.” Beyond that, she said, she was unable to announce any other plans regarding the future of preservation efforts for Unity Temple.
The restoration foundation has been active for 50 years, overseeing several smaller renovations made to the temple, as well as the comprehensive multi-year, $25-million restoration and modernization of Unity Temple that ended with its reopening in 2017. The building was closed to the public and the congregation for two years during the project. Kaleta-Kott said the foundation was “instrumental” in getting the necessary funds to pay for the renovation.
The large restoration won several conservation awards, including the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site both in in 2019.
UTRF Executive Director Heidi Ruehle joined the foundation in 2018, just after the completion of the restoration and the foundation was still in the process of raising funds to pay for it, as well as to open the building back up to the public. Under Ruehle, Unity Temple programming grew with tours, a lectureship series and concerts.
That work, according to Ruehle, requires “heart and passion.”
Ruehle called the end of the foundation “bittersweet” but said the foundation had completed what it set out to do when it formed in 1973.
“Our primary mission was to restore the building ever since 1973. And we’ve felt that that’s been very well accomplished,” she said. “It lined up to be a good time for us to sunset and just celebrate.”