When leaders of the Waukegan Park District and the Waukegan Historical Society started thinking seriously about saving and restoring the city’s onetime Carnegie Library — already a historic landmark — statewide recognition was not one of their goals.

Current historical society President Lori Nerheim said once they hired T. Gunny Harboe, a restoration architect with several awards to his credit, all they wanted to know was whether the building could be saved and repurposed.

Learning that the building could be restored to what it was like when it opened in 1903, numerous hurdles remained. They needed funding, title to the real estate and more, but seven years after a dream was hatched, the Waukegan History Museum at the Carnegie opened to the public on May 1.

Once open, Nerheim, Harboe, P

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