CHICAGO, Oct. 3 /PRNewswire/ --

    WHAT:   CALLhttp://www.partnersinpreservation.com until October 10, 2007. The
            historic site with the most public votes is guaranteed to win a
            portion of the preservation grant money.

            From a Viking ship in Kane County, the Spring Grove Fish Hatchery
            in McHenry County, to the Robie House and International Museum of
            Surgical Science in Cook County -- 25 historic sites are all
            trying to woo the Chicagoland public to vote for their site and
            enable them to win a portion of the $1 million Partners in
            Preservation grant.

    MEDIA CALL TO ACTION: Help local sites compete for votes. Encourage your
            audiences to log onto http://www.partnersinpreservation.com and
            vote for their favorite historic site and help giveaway $1 million
            in preservation funding. Some sites needing public support
            include:
                     ABLA Animal Court Sculptures
                     Homan Square Power House
                     Great Lakes Naval Station
                     Peterson Historic Farmstead
                     Grosse Point Lighthouse
                     International Museum of Surgical Science
                     * For the full list of twenty-five sites please visit
                     http://www.partnersinpreservation.com

            Launched in September by American Express and the National Trust
            for Historic Preservation, the program is a community-based
            historic preservation initiative. American Express is committing
            $1 million in preservation grants to Chicagoland and is
            encouraging members of the community to participate in the
            initiative by casting an online vote daily for their favorite
            historic site from a slate of 25 sites across five Chicagoland
            counties.

    WHEN:   Vote online daily through October 10, 2007

    WHERE:  http://www.partnersinpreservation.com

    WHY:    The Chicagoland community call-to-action is designed to help
            preserve historic places that reflect the region's rich and
            diverse cultural heritage while building community and national
            pride, spurring economic development, and saving local history.

    PRESS OPPORTUNITY:
        -- Encourage community participation in Chicagoland's historic
           preservation by reminding the public of their voting rights
        -- Story Ideas:
           - Host a broadcast news segment from one of the 25 historic sites
           - Dig deeper into local history with curator and historian
             interviews
           - How did a Viking Ship end up in Chicago in 1893?
           - Von Steuben High School students voting regularly and using
             Facebook pages to save their school
           - Why restoring the guest bedroom in the Robie House is crucial to
             future visitors

Source: American Express; the National Trust for Historic Preservation