this past summer, we had the utmost pleasure to travel along the great river road through illinois in search of the united states’ hidden heart. we found it in many places across the state, which has so much more to offer than the fantastic city of chicago.

our first stop was in rockford, and while it was mostly the city’s downtown area whose aura of glories past took us in, we found other gems as well. one of them was this beautiful 1937 art déco building which for decades was home to the state’s national guard armory but which fell into hibernation at some point during the nineties and has yet to be awaken. we circled the sleeping beauty…

the armory is a stop on the upcoming rockford fan trail of local legends and 2016 rock & roll hall of fame inductees cheap trick.