The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation Announces Three-Year Loan Extension

CHICAGO, Dec. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation (ALPLF) is very pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with Lake Forest Bank & Trust Company, N.A. to extend the maturity date of a 2012 loan it took to purchase the Taper Collection, a collection of over 1,000 Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln artifacts.

The loan now matures on October 31, 2022 and includes a more favorable interest rate for the ALPLF than the prior loan.

"We are very grateful to the team at Lake Forest Bank for supporting us at the outset, and for their willingness to negotiate this important extension as we continue to pay down the debt," said Sarah Phalen, Treasurer of the ALPLF. "Working with the ALPLF's Finance Committee, I believe we have secured a viable path forward to allow us to retire the debt in its entirety."

In 2007, the ALPLF borrowed $23 million to purchase the collection of Lincoln artifacts. The Taper Collection included artifacts owned by the 16th President and his family, as well as a large number of Mary Todd Lincoln's documents.

Through significant fundraising efforts during the subsequent years, the ALPLF has been able to pay off more than $22 million of what had grown to become a $31 million debt (after interest and fees).  Earlier this year, based on successful private fundraising, the ALPLF made a larger-than-normal payment to principal on the debt.  

"I want to thank Sarah, the team at Lake Forest and our own Finance Committee on this cooperative achievement.  In addition to giving us the flexibility to continue fundraising, this extension means the Foundation no longer needs to consider auctioning off any of the artifacts to satisfy the debt.  Selling these unique artifacts was clearly something no one wanted to do.  Now, this important collection will remain available to everyone who visits the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum," said Ray McCaskey, Chair of the ALPLF Board of Directors.

While the new terms of the loan ensure the collection remains available to the public until 2022, the ALPLF must still pay off the remainder of the loan. It must continue to fundraise for the collection to benefit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.   

About the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation supports the collections and the educational and cultural programming of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum; fosters Lincoln scholarship through the acquisition and publication of documentary materials relating to Lincoln and his era; and promotes a greater appreciation of history through exhibits, conferences, publications, online services, and other activities designed to promote historical literacy.

Media Contact:
Nick Kalm
[email protected] 
312.222.9888

SOURCE Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Foundation (ALPLF)