After one year of heading the state’s leading advocacy group for saving historic buildings and sites, its executive director has left the post.
Donna Ann Harris had an extensive track record in historic preservation before being hired as the executive director of the advocacy group, the Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois in 1997. But when the subject of renewing her contract came up, she and the organization mutually decided not to renew it, according to David Keene, the group’s president.
Keene stressed that LPCI has had a successful fundraising year, and he credited Harris with several moves, such as consolidating the group’s Chicago and statewide arms. He said, however, that the contract discussions underscored that the council required a new, more managerial emphasis.
“We needed to have someone who could manage the organization as an organization, not as a visionary,” Keene said. The council, now conducting a search, hopes to have Harris’ successor named by July.
