65 ILCS 5/11-48.2-1
It is hereby found and declared that in all municipalities the movements and shifts of population and the changes in residential, commercial, and industrial use and customs threaten with disappearance areas, places, buildings, structures, works of art and other objects having special historical, community, or aesthetic interest or value and whose preservation and continued utilization are necessary and desirable to sound community planning for such municipalities and to the welfare of the residents thereof. The granting to such municipalities of the powers herein provided is directed to such ends, and the use of such rights and powers for the preservation and continued utilization of such property is hereby declared to be a public use essential to the public interest.
65 ILCS 5/11-48.2-1