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Chicago Tribune
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Historic St. Charles home may be torn down, as church that owns it awaits final green light from city
The historic house at 217 Cedar Ave. in St. Charles is one step closer to being torn down, as the City Council's Planning and Development Committee on Monday recommended approval of its owner's request to demolish it, sending the issue to the City Council next week for final approval. The house, which was recently named one of nonprofit Landmarks Illinois' 2025 most endangered historic places in the state, now finds itself at risk of demolition, as the city moved the issue forward following months of discussion about the structure's future among city employees, advocates of preservation and the building's owner across the street, Baker Memorial United Methodist Church. The building at 217 Cedar Ave. in St. Charles is also referred to as the Judge William D. Barry House, for its original owner. Barry was a lawyer, who did trials as far north as McHenry County, according to former board president of the St. Charles History Museum Steve Gibson, who has been researching Barry and the house since 2017, when he sat on the city's Historic Preservation Commission that first voted against demolishing the house. Barry built a home in St. Charles, worked as a Kane County judge around the time of the Civil War and served as the first president of the Kane County Bar Association, Gibson said. There's some anecdotal evidence about his knowing Abraham Lincoln, according to Gibson. The house itself dates back to the 1840s, according to Gibson's history written for the St. Charles History Museum. The Judge Barry House, along with the buildings at 211-215 Cedar Ave. and the parking lots to the south, west and north of the buildings, are owned by Baker Memorial United Methodist Church, which is looking to demolish the buildings on Cedar Avenue to construct a parking lot. Because the Judge Barry House is located within the city's Historic District, exterior changes to the building must be reviewed by the city's Historic Preservation Commission and receive a certificate of appropriateness from the city before the demolition project can begin. In October, the city's Historic Preservation Commission recommended the City Council deny the certificate of appropriateness for the demolition of the Judge Barry House, based on findings about the building's significance and architecture. It then went to the City Council's Planning and Development Committee in December. Per the meeting agenda, the property had been brought to the committee by the church before, in 2017. The preservation commission had recommended denying the church's request then as well, but the church's application was withdrawn before the City Council voted on it, according to St. Charles Community Development Director Russell Colby. At the December meeting, representatives from the church gave a presentation on their rationale for the project, discussing the church's financial situation and need for additional parking in the area, among other concerns. The Planning and Development Committee ultimately made a motion to postpone its decision to allow city staff and the church to discuss options. Since then, the city and the church have been engaged in discussions about the house's future, and whether the city could purchase it from the church, Colby said, but they were unable to reach an agreement. That's why the request to demolish went back to the Planning and Development Committee on Monday. On Monday, advocates and residents spoke in favor of preserving the house, while representatives from the church reiterated their interest in tearing down the building in favor of additional parking. 'We would like to keep the property,' Brian Harris, the church's property committee chair, said at the meeting. 'As the property owner, we would like for the highest and best use after all of this time and all of this vetting out, which is to have a community and church parking for the next generation.' Harris noted that, should its request be approved, the church would work with the city to determine the plan going forward. Baker Memorial did, however, signal on Monday that it would allow a 90-day hold on demolition so that an interested party could buy the house for as low as $1 and move it off the property, thereby preserving the structure. 'I think I can speak for the commission that we are open to the idea of moving it,' Historic Preservation Commission chair Kim Malay said during public comment at Monday's meeting. 'We're not saying it has to stay there, but we really would like that opportunity and that potential to be reviewed and incorporated somewhere in town.' Al Watts, the community engagement director of local nonprofit Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley, pushed back on the church's immediate need for additional parking, and said the building posed 'no apparent structural safety risk.' Gibson, who has gotten involved in advocating for preserving the building, said at the meeting that the council's decision was 'precedent-setting' and asked for more time to form a working group and discuss its options. 'The house is not beyond redemption,' Gloria Kohlert Geske, who said she was the previous owner of the building before Baker Memorial, said at the meeting, describing the renovations she and her husband did. 'The house has been salvaged before,' she said. Ultimately, after comments from the public and discussion among its members, the Planning and Development Committee recommend approval of the church's request with a 5-3 majority vote, with Ronald Silkaitis, Bryan Wirball and Ed Bessner voting against. On Monday, May 19, the church's request to demolish the building will be put to the full St. Charles City Council for a final vote. Planning and Development Committee Vice Chair Jayme Muenz and Malay did not return The Beacon-News' requests for further comment. As discussion of the house's future has stretched out for months, the Judge Barry House has garnered local — and statewide — interest from preservation groups, which are still advocating against its demolition. In 2024, the Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley wrote about the house's history, and has since been in talks with the house's owners, the city and St. Charles residents about the course of action for the structure, Watts said. The organization doesn't always recommend preservation, he said, but considers the historic and architectural significance of a building as well as whether it could be reused. 'The most important thing is the building has to have a use,' Watts told The Beacon-News. 'If there's no way that there can be a modern use for it in some way or fashion, I mean, it's kind of, the discussion, then, is pointless.' More recently, the house's situation was brought via public nomination to Landmarks Illinois, which listed it as one of its 2025 most endangered historic places in the state. 'I think a lot of people would say, 'This is just a house. Why should we care about this place?'' Kendra Parzen, Landmarks Illinois' advocacy manager for the organization's Chicagoland region, told The Beacon-News. 'Buildings from this first … 10, 15, 20 years of a settlement of a community are becoming increasingly rare, especially in suburban communities that have experienced constant growth over long periods of time.' Landmarks Illinois also submitted a letter to the city committee, urging its members to consider preserving the house. The organization also has grant programs, Parzen said, a network of professionals who do pro-bono work like conditions assessments of properties and information on finding other funding sources that it provides to owners who want to preserve their historic buildings. Gibson said he's been researching Barry and the house at 217 Cedar Ave. since 2017, when its possible demolition first reached the city's Historic Preservation Commission. But some of its history is still being discovered, which is why he's still researching, even though he's no longer an employee of the St. Charles History Museum. 'Everything kind of opens up another place to go looking for something, which is how history kind of works,' Gibson said. For example, Barry appears to have been an abolitionist, and may have had some role in the Underground Railroad, Gibson said. The church, for its part, believes it has 'exhausted every option there is,' Harris told The Beacon-News on Thursday, and is ready to move forward with the council vote on Monday. 'We're not in the property business,' Harris said. 'We have missions, we have other purposes in the community. … We don't want to be a landlord.' And he thinks Baker Memorial's experience maintaining its own historic building means it knows how to proceed with the Judge Barry House. 'We're very knowledgeable … and respect the need and the process (of historic preservation),' Harris said. 'We're in it. We're part of it.' Watts said Monday's vote was 'disappointing,' but that, no matter the outcome of the final City Council vote, his organization can help. 'Either way, whatever decision they make, we can be of assistance,' Watts said about the Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley. He said it could help the church and the city obtain historic documentation of the building even if it's ultimately torn down, and said he's begun looking into relocation options if a buyer decides to purchase the house to move off site. But the City Council vote remains a weighty decision and a permanent one, too, Gibson said. 'You can only take a home down once,' Gibson said. 'At that point, we'll point to the parking lot and say, 'This is where Judge Barry's house was.' … All of those stories, that's how they'll end, with somebody making that gesture.'
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Yahoo
Sioux City Historic Preservation Commission to host downtown walking tour
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — The Sioux City Historic Preservation Commission is hosting a walking tour of the northern downtown area Tuesday evening. The event comes as part of the annual celebration of Historic Preservation Week. Road construction season is underway in both Iowa and Nebraska The stroll will begin at the Sioux City Public Museum at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6. Museum Archivist Tom Munson will guide the tour, which will focus on the history of the area as well as local architecture. The event is free and open to the public. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to SiouxlandProud | Sioux City, IA | News, Weather, and Sports.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Proposed Frederick planning budget includes new planner position, fee increases
The proposed $2.8 million budget for Frederick's Planning Department for fiscal year 2026 includes funding for a new planner. The department's proposed fee schedule includes increases for historic preservation-related fees. The planning budget is just one part of Mayor Michael O'Connor's proposed $238 million budget, due to be voted on by the full City Council at a May 15 meeting. The planning budget includes around $2.8 million in expenditures, an approximately $290,000, or 11.5%, increase over the fiscal year 2025's approved budget expenditure of around $2.5 million. Planning Department budget The Frederick Planning Department's budget over time. Fiscal years 2021 through 2024 are what the Planning Department actually spent. Fiscal year 2025 is in progress, and the new fiscal year starts July 1. The Planning Department projects also projects around $280,000 in revenue — the same as fiscal year 2025. The proposed fee schedule for fiscal year 2026 includes a number of increases around Historic Preservation Commission filing fees, which are necessitated by inflation, City Clerk Phyllis Hane said during an April 3 City Council Government Operations Committee meeting. This includes increases to filing fees to the Historic Preservation Commission for applications for complete or partial demolition of a historic structure, rehabilitation of historic structures, and additions to historic structures. The proposed budget accounts for around $206,000 in salary increases over fiscal year 2025. This includes a new community planning & urban design planner position, according to a document provided at a Thursday City Council work session. '[The position] is really needed to support our long-range planning functions,' Deputy Director of Planning Gabrielle Collard said Thursday at a City Council Land Use, Public Safety and Community Development Committee meeting. Collard said the current number of planners — three — is 'probably not sufficient to do that.' The budget also includes a proposal for $35,000 for the Sites of Enslavement Program's second phase, according to a document provided for a City Council work session. The program started in 2024 and is meant to identify sites in the city associated with slavery. In 2024, the city unveiled a marker in front of the historic Emancipation Association building at 160 All Saints St as part of the program. On May 12 at 6 p.m., the city plans to host a symposium at the Visit Frederick building. 'That is going to be a summation of that phase one contact study,' Collard said. 'We hope that it will build a lot of enthusiasm for phase two moving forward.'
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Statue of former Frederick mayor proposed for Carroll Creek park
A group is proposing to erect a statue of former Frederick Mayor Ron Young in Carroll Creek Linear Park, a park he helped create. The proposal is for a 7-foot bronze statue of the former mayor in the Carroll Creek Park amphitheater on top of a 1.5-foot pedestal. The proposal has been approved by the city's Historic Preservation Commission, Public Art Commission and Parks and Recreation Commission. All it lacks is approval by the City Council. Young was mayor from 1974 to 1990 and represented Maryland's 3rd District — made up mostly of the city of Frederick — in the Maryland state Senate from 2011 to 2023. "Without the vision that Ron had for Carroll Creek, the city would be very different," said former Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner, a member of the 13-member Committee for the Ron Young Sculptural Tribute. Ron Young Statue at Carroll Creek An artist's rendition of the proposed statue of Ron Young at the Carroll Creek Linear Park A 1976 flood damaged much of the downtown area during Young's first term as mayor, which prompted a flood mitigation project around Carroll Creek. Young oversaw the construction of the flood mitigation project, but he also envisioned the current park, Gardner said. Though the project to turn the area around the creek into a park was not done during Young's term as mayor, eventually, his efforts came to fruition, she said. Gardner in 2024 contacted sculptor Antonio Tobias "Toby" Mendez to create the statue and the committee has since commissioned him for the project. Mendez is known for sculpting statues of Baltimore Orioles legends Earl Weaver and Jim Palmer, the statue of John Hanson in front of the Frederick County Courthouse, a statue of Thurgood Marshall in front of the Maryland State House and many others. Mendez said he got involved in creating the statue to help people learn about the history of Carroll Creek Park, for which Young helped provide the vision. "So many people don't know how the Carroll Creek park started," he said. "They don't know how it basically went from being a disaster area to something that ended up being a great park." Young was also an advocate for public arts and his efforts helped with the creation of both The Delaplaine Arts Center and the Weinberg Center for the Arts, Mendez said. The project is not currently being funded by grants or other public money, Gardner said. Instead, it is being funded by private donations and sponsors like the Delaplaine Foundation, the Ausherman Family Foundation and more. Asked on Wednesday about the tribute, Young said, "I guess I'm flattered." Though he is not involved in the project, he has heard of it, he said. Ron Young Statue at Carroll Creek A photo of Ron Young taken during the late 1980s or early 1990s at Carroll Creek as the flood mitigation project was being constructed. Artist Antonio Tobias 'Toby' Mendez was commissioned to create a statue of Young to go in Carroll Creek Linear Park based on the image. Committee for the Ron Young Sculptural Tribute member Jan Gardner said the photo might have been published in Frederick Magazine. His idea for the creation of a park along Carroll Creek, along with other revitalization efforts across the city, was not just an effort on his part. "There were a lot of people that played a part and a lot of good aldermen that supported me," Young said. Young said his goal as mayor of Frederick was to see it prosper, as it had when he was growing up in the city. With the advent of shopping centers and new developments, Frederick's downtown area suffered, he said. "That's why I ran for mayor," Young said. "I loved Frederick and wanted to see it vibrant again." The statue The plan is for the statue to go up in October 2026 — 50 years after the historic 1976 flood. Mendez's design for the statue is based on a photo of Young from the late 1980s or early 1990s in which Young has his hands in his pockets and is standing near the in-development Carroll Creek flood mitigation project. Gardner said the photo apparently ran in Frederick Magazine. The image is very "humble," Mendez said. "My hope is that [the statue] will just blend into the crowd," Mendez said. The committee's website says the art will include "an interpretive wayside exhibit that will recount the Park's development, the downtown revitalization effort, and recognize the commitment of successive mayors who helped fulfill the vision." City Council The last step before the statue would be able to go up is approval from the City Council, Gardner said. City Council President Katie Nash said she has not heard much about the project and was only informed about it recently. She said she needs to know more about it before she can say if she would support it. She also said she wanted to make absolutely sure the city is using public art to honor those who have "done great things in our community." Council Members Kelly Russell, Donna Kuzemchak and Ben MacShane did not respond to requests for comment. Council Member Derek Shackelford said he could not comment until next week. Gardner said efforts to put up a statue of Young in the park have been in the works for years. One of the main proponents of the statue was Elizabeth "Bettie" Delaplaine, who died in 2014, Gardner said. Young said he has heard from many people over the years who have proposed the idea. "I'd just hope they do it while I am alive, so I could see it," said Young, 84.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution chapter awards Historic Preservation Medal
At its March 24 chapter meeting, on the Frederick Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) proudly awarded the Historic Preservation Medal to Ballard 'Jim' for his exceptional work in developing the Peace and Plenty rural historic district in Frederick County. This district stands as the first of its kind in the state, a significant achievement in preservation. Each year, fewer than 30 of these prestigious national awards are presented across the United States, underscoring the importance of this honor. The Historic Preservation Medal recognizes and honors a person who has done extraordinary volunteer work over a long period in establishing a historic district, preserving a local landmark, restoring or preserving objects of historic cultural significance projects as it pertains to historic preservation, at the regional, state, and/or national level. The Peace and Plentyhistoric rural district encompasses 1,161.1 acres of land and consists often historic properties and one unimproved parcel in the Frederick County New Market vicinity. It includes 48 contributing resources: eight historic dwellings, eight bank barns, one dairy barn, one lime plant, and 30 remaining domestic and agricultural outbuildings dated before 1940. Each of the 10 historic properties is now individually listed on the Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties, and eight of these properties were determined to be eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Properties. One of the historic district farmsteads includes a family cemetery with the 1750 grave of Englishman John James, the oldest substantiated grave in the county. Jamieson's role in this project has protected vital rural resources both in Frederick County and the state of Maryland. Some of the goals achieved by Mr. Jamieson's rural historic district development was: Protecting these farmsteads in the district from future development activities that may happen. Allowing property owners to apply for a Historic Preservation Commission rural historic preservation grant – which can be used to do exterior renovation work on historic houses, barns, outbuildings, etc. on the farmsteads. Presenting the opportunity for insensitive additions or changes to the property where the Historic Preservation Commission can work with the property owners, so the historic characteristic of the property is not lost.
