City of Aurora Historic Preservation Commission met Oct. 10.
Here is the minutes provided by the Commission:
Call to Order
Chairman Miller called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Roll Call
The following Preservation Commission members were present: Justyn Arnold, Fernando Castrejon, Jen Del Debbio, Amber Foster, Dan Miller, Simon Munoz, Al Signorelli and Mike Walker. Seth Hoffman and Kristin Ludwig called in and excused themselves from the meeting. Mike Lord was absent.
Others Present
The following staff members were present: Jill Morgan and Sue Jackson.
Others Present: Valerie Olafson (422 S. 1st Street, Rockford, IL) and Golden Huang (716 Cornwall Circle).
Approval of Minutes
19-0835 Approval of the Minutes for the Historic Preservation Commission meeting on September 5, 2019.
A motion was made by Fernando Castrejon, seconded by Amber Foster, that the minutes be approved and filed. The motion carried by voice vote.
COA Report
19-0926 September 2019 Historic Certificate of Appropriateness Report
There were no questions on the COA report.
This COA Report was discussed and filed.
Public Comment
Mrs. Morgan said we have a member from the public here who is wanting to come and speak to you about his property. We weren’t able to get him on the agenda with the Historic Preservation timeframe, so I told him to come before the Commission and he can get some unofficial feedback. We can’t officially vote on anything and if need be, maybe we can do a special meeting next week if I can get a quorum of members if we need too.
Hi. My name is Golden Huang. I just came in. They said I could come in and get some unofficial advice on what to do. So our situation is that probably about 10 years ago or so we purchased a property here in Aurora. It’s evidently in the Historic District. We had no idea what that meant or what that entailed. We had some tenants in there living for a long time. A few years ago, the tenants started complaining that there was a draft coming in because the windows were old and things like that. We went ahead and we said okay and at a pretty significant cost we changed out the windows. We looked at what the neighbors were doing and things like that and they all had these windows and so we put in the windows. Then afterwards, we received something from the city saying you can’t do that and you have to put the old windows back. Over the years, we’ve done pretty much what the city has asked us to do, but as you can imagine, this was a significant cost for us to put in the new windows and so for them to ask us to put the old windows back at significant cost, we simply couldn’t do it. The cost was very significant. Anyway, that’s where we are right now. Our tenants of like 10 years now have finally moved out and so we thought we were going to sell the property and now here we are. We are just talking with the city and we’re trying to get advice, basically throwing ourselves at the mercy of the city on what can we do to satisfy the city at the same time as not braking the bank here. The buyers love the windows. We’re just wondering what can we do besides taking all of those windows out and putting old ones back in. Is there anything that we can do? That’s why they asked and said come before the Commission and see if you can get advice on if there is anything that we can do that can satisfy both sides. Of course, being landlords, we’re not entitled to any money to be able to help with this sort of thing. Then they told us the neighbors could do it because they were grandfathered. Of course, we’re not grandfathered either. We can’t get grandfathered into it and we can’t receive any help on it and so what we’re basically asking is there anything we can do?
Chairman Miller said did you replace all of the windows in the house?
Mr. Huang said yes, at significant cost.
Chairman Miller said is there a window upstairs that’s like a circle or something?
Mr. Huang said there are windows upstairs.
Mr. Arnold said and it looks original still.
Mr. Huang said the circle one is original, but almost everything else as you can imaging has probably been there since the early 1900’s, so they were just old and drafty. The tenants were complaining about a draft coming through almost all the windows. So when we put these in, you can imagine, they were really happy. When we got the notice that said put the old ones back in, nobody was happy. Even so, we couldn’t afford to do it. We couldn’t get any funds from the city. We just already put a significant amount of money into just putting these windows in. We had no idea that this was in violation of anything because, once again, there’s just plenty of houses that have the exact same windows on the same street. We learned, oh, they were there a long time ago so they are grandfathered in.
Mr. Castrejon said what kind of windows did you put in?
Mr. Huang said they are just the modern windows, modern vinyl windows with a double pane on it. They insulate really well. It’s been 3 years, so I’m not sure if we used Pella or one of those people that replaces windows.
Chairman Miller said are these like just 1 over 1 double hung windows? What’s the window there on the front on the first floor?
Mr. Huang said we just asked if we could get them replaced. They gave us a quote for windows. They look like the windows on my house. I don’t know exactly what kind they are, but they said they were insulated. I guess they are the type with the insulation in between. We did try to replace them with nice windows. They are not cheap windows.
Mr. Signorelli said when he was saying 1 over 1 it just means one large pane on top of one large pane as opposed to windows that have divided, you know…
Mr. Huang said I don’t know. There are quite a few windows. It wasn’t like 5 windows. It was like a lot of them at once. Of course, if we replaced one it would just look awkward and so we replaced the whole thing.
Mrs. Morgan said I believe most of them are 1 over 1, the replacement ones. If I remember correctly, some of the older ones may have had some 3 over 1 on the sides, but I think they were 1 over 1 on the front. I was trying to bring up the picture and I can’t.
Chairman Miller said it would help to have a historical picture of the house and see what it had looked like. The vinyl windows aren’t permitted to be installed in a Historic District. We are willing to be flexible in what we consider to be visible from the street. Windows on the back we don’t really regulate. We allow a lot more leeway on windows that we can’t really see. Windows on the front probably have to go back to something that looks original. We’ve allowed any wood and we have in some situations allowed aluminum clad windows, which allows you a different option. It is usually still a wooden window, but it has aluminum cladding on the outside. If 1 over 1’s are found to be appropriate, and Jill can help with that, it sounds like as far as we know at the moment, and I don’t have historical pictures of the house in front of me, but I think a 1 over 1 window that maybe is aluminum clad or just wood or aluminum clad wood might not be too difficult to find. I can’t tell from the picture. Is anyone familiar with the house?
Mr. Castrejon said so there is a picture window on the first floor and then 1 over 1 on the second floor.
Mrs. Del Debbio said did you change the dimensions or make the opening smaller or bigger?
Mr. Huang said maybe at the frame, but we didn’t enlarge any windows or anything like that or make an extra hole or make them smaller.
Mrs. Del Debbio said sometimes when they are a little smaller they kind of change the design of the molding around the window and it looks like it was fitted and sometimes it looks like there’s 2 or 3 sashes around the window.
Mr. Huang said first of all we were wondering because it looks nice. If you drive by it, it’s not like it’s out of place or anything like that on the street. I know that they asked and said you know if it was more 3 dimensional and so we’re like if we put up shutters or wooden fascia’s around them if that would help at all.
Mrs. Del Debbio said what’s the siding like? Is it clapboard?
Mr. Huang said the siding is mixed. I believe that it is wooden siding on parts of it and then on the sides and back I think it is just newer siding.
Mrs. Del Debbio said how long ago did you purchase it?
Mr. Huang said about 10 years ago.
Chairman Miller said did you also replace the picture window on the first floor? Is that a new window?
Mr. Huang said I would say that all the windows were replaced. It would look weird if you left the old windows there and just replaced a few of them. It would have cost less, but it would just look weird, so we just bit the bullet and replaced everything.
Mrs. Del Debbio said I wish you would have called.
Mr. Huang said in hindsight, hindsight is always 20/20. At the time, we were just trying to be good landlords. The tenants were complaining about a draft and so they said it’s been drafty for a year now. I understand they are grandfathered, but all the houses had them, so we were like okay we’ll just put them in. Nobody ever thinks about let me put in old windows. Everybody just thinks I’m going to put in new windows.
Mr. Munoz said did you get a permit from the city?
Mrs. Morgan said no permit was issued or applied for.
Mr. Signorelli said is it possible that we could make, although the position of the house looks like, unfortunately, both sides of the home are very open to the street. Is there something that could possibly be done with the front and leaving the sides and the rear?
Chairman Miller said that was kind of my question.
Mr. Munoz said like the big window in the front.
Chairman Miller said I guess we don’t have a historical Google to see what was on that first floor originally.
Mrs. Del Debbio said I would be upset just about a picture window being removed, just personally, because they just look so old and historic and Victorian to have a large picture window in front of your house. It you had replaced it with 2 double hung windows you’d kind of lose the whole character.
Chairman Miller said are we saying was that a large picture window originally?
Mr. Huang said I don’t know, I’m sorry.
Chairman Miller said or was it that way when you bought the house? Let me ask it that way.
Mr. Huang said you are asking about a window that we bought 10 years ago. I don’t know, unfortunately.
Mr. Miller said we’re going a little blind here not knowing what the house was originally.
Mrs. Morgan said I could have, I guess, printed out the photos unofficially and I didn’t think about that. I was able to bring up some stuff from 2012 just on Google. Chairman Miller said had the window replacements already been done in 2012?
Mrs. Morgan said no. It is not a good quality photo, but you can see some of the original wood windows.
Mr. Arnold said I found one picture. I don’t know what year it is, but it is just like 1 over 1 up at the top and the half round window in the attic area, I don’t know if that’s still there because that light was kind of in the way. The downstairs, I think it just looks like one large window. It is painted green to match.
Mr. Huang said I do remember that one. It was just one big paned window.
Mr. Arnold said I can’t see if there was anything in the top, like leaded glass. I can’t see that part in this picture.
Mrs. Morgan said I think I had seen the same similar photo and it looked like one large picture window. I can’t really tell any detailing of it. Is there some 3 over 1 windows on the side?
Mr. Signorelli said yes. There was one in the rear.
Mrs. Morgan said maybe that was a later change to it.
Chairman Miller said possible I’m wondering with some being 3 over 1 and some being 1 over 1, maybe not all of those were really original.
Mrs. Morgan said the 3 over 1 seemed unusual to me.
Chairman Miller said this one has a little bit, would you say, of a Victorian detail?
Mrs. Morgan said yes.
Chairman Miller said is everyone okay with just keeping the 1 over 1 design on this if we are going to ask him to replace the windows?
Mr. Signorelli said well wouldn’t the 3 over 1’s be even more costly?
Chairman Miller said I suspect so.
Mr. Signorelli said that’s what I would suspect. I’m going to throw this out. I’m not sure if it’s doable. Wouldn’t it be better if the vinyl, and I know this is not something you’d set out to do, to paint the vinyl, but they wouldn’t quite stick out so much. It appears that the vinyl is all white. Maybe if it was painted out, it wouldn’t hit you in the face so much. Is that any kind of an alternative?
Chairman Miller said I don’t know. Has anyone painted vinyl?
Mr. Signorelli said well you can paint anything if you use the right paint. If you prepare it correctly and use the right product you can paint anything.
Mrs. Morgan said I would be a little hesitant to set a precedence because we have made other people take out the windows and put in the wood. We have been trying to be a little flexible on the sides maybe saying once you get a little halfway back we consider that not readily visible, something like that. Maybe focusing more on the front façade.
Chairman Miller said we are flying with a little bit of information here.
Mrs. Morgan said we don’t have to make an official determination. We can come back next week if you guys have the availability.
Chairman Miller said to bring up the issue of what windows do we really consider to be visible from the street.
Mr. Signorelli said that maybe we can make an exception for the rear and the sides. Chairman Miller said there is a side window right towards the front. We can say that one is visible from the street and the others on the front façade. Consider letting the vinyl like on the rear of the house and further back on the sides. I haven’t visited the house either.
Mr. Huang said we weren’t expecting anything tonight. We just wanted to let you know what our situation was. Of course, we have a buyer that wants it right now. Nobody wants the place vacant. Before winter hits, we’d like to be able to do something, but just trying to replace all those that would just be hard. We appreciate any direction that can come from the Commission that might be able to alleviate whatever.
Chairman Miller said I think the direction would be if you could come with a proposal for replacing the windows on the front with something historically appropriate that you could work with Jill on.
Mrs. Morgan said so far I’ve not come across any aluminum clad that has been approved. The one we did across from you house ended up being a Marvin Ultimate double hung wood window. It was a completely wood window. If you recall, the dimensions aren’t exact. The bottom sash is a little thicker than what you would traditionally get. I think the sides were fairly close, but we did approve that one. So far, that’s been, I think, the closest match that we are able to see. I don’t know if you would be open to aluminum clad if they could probably get a similar dimensions, but just so far there’s not one I know of that we’ve approved.
Chairman Miller said I wonder if it is a little easier when we don’t have divided lights.
Mrs. Morgan said yes.
Chairman Miller said off hand, I don’t see the need to ask for that. As far as we know, it was just a 1 over 1. Again, when we say 1 over 1, we are talking about 1 pane of glass over 1 pane of glass. That type, I think, a carpenter should be able to find more options for you. It is probably a little bit easier to find. I’m not sure about that picture window. Is that vinyl also?
Mr. Huang said yes.
Chairman Miller said that’s unfortunate.
Mrs. Del Debbio said was there a leaded glass bar across the top?
Mrs. Morgan said I just don’t know. I’ll try to look and see if I can get any more detail on that. I do know that some of them did look like they were just picture windows, whether that could have been a later replacement. I’ve seen some in the Historic Districts where it is just a large wood single paned glass, which might be a later addition that they took out at some point. I can do a little more research on that. Is the Commission available next week? Possible Tuesday at 7:00 or possibly Thursday. I will circle back with an e-mail.
Chairman Miller said does anyone else have any opinions on which windows we can be
lenient with and allow the homeowner to leave the vinyl versus what should be replaced?
Mr. Arnold said I think that side one you were talking about, because I walk back by there all the time, is not very visible just the way it is sitting on the lot, but that front one is on the side.
Chairman Miller said on the positive side, it does look like that window in the attic and that one on the second floor that is in like a quarter circle or something, it looks like those are original.
Mr. Huang said I believe those are original.
Chairman Miller said it would be very creative of you to find replacement windows that would match those openings.
Mr. Huang said is there anything you’d like me to prepare for the next meeting that you need?
Mrs. Morgan said if you want to start researching some proposed window replacements, I would recommend Marvin Ultimate double hung wood windows. That’s one I know we’ve approved in the past.
Agenda
19-0916 The Preservation Commission is providing comments on the National Register Nomination for the International Harvester building located at 6-12 N. River Street (Illinois Historic Preservation Agency- 19-0916 - AU22/3-19.174-HP -JM – Ward 6)
Mrs. Morgan said we have the person who did the nomination. She is going to present on it.
Good evening. Thank you for letting me speak. My name is Valerie Olafson. I am a Preservation Consultant. I have written several successful National Register nominations in the past and for the last year I’ve had the privilege of looking at this beautiful little building. It’s been truly a scavenger hunt because it turns out a lot of people don’t care about farm implement warehouses. This was actually a very early International Harvester warehouse. International Harvester, it is a common name for all of us, of course, became the largest farm implement company, not only in Illinois and not only in the country, but in the world. This was a warehouse and showroom from 1906 to 1912. It was also at a time when International Harvester had independent dealerships, so they were still trying to figure out what was going on. So again, it was a little bit of a scavenger hunt because also the City of Aurora did not require building permits until 1913, so trying to discover when all this happened, but it was very interesting and I now know more about reapers and balers than I ever thought I would know in my entire life. It all started with Cyrus McCormick and his reaping machine, which he first showed in 1831. He showed it to some farmers on his father’s farm in Virginia. They all thought he was a little bit crazy, but it transformed agriculture in the United States. He moved to Chicago to start his business and he continued building in Chicago and really beginning to form the farm implement business. There were several businesses like his in the Midwest because eventually, of course, his patent ran out. Then everyone was building reapers. He also began changing gas tractors.
They actually did make cars and then they figured why were they making cars. So they stopped making cars and began making trucks and continued, of course, their tractors. Of course, his biggest competition was a man named Deering and Deering actually got into the reaper business because he was looking for a way to invest money and he invested in this implement company and eventually took it over. He also moved to Chicago because, again, this is the center of the Midwest and this is at the end of the 19th century. This is where agriculture was moving because it was all moving west until this was a center and everything. It wasn’t until 1902 that Deering and McCormick said okay let’s stop fighting. Let’s work together. So McCormick and Deering got together and also a few other reaping companies and developed the International Harvester Company and this is one of their original logos, which I think is so beautiful, much more beautiful than what it evolved into, but again, we are constantly evolving as we know. So they are looking for places, again, for these independent dealerships and, of course, when International Harvester was put together, there were several McCormicks and several Deerings in charge of the company for decades and they continued in the family and they really had this belief, and this is the way Cyrus McCormick started out with his initial reaper, was actually to go to farmers and have contests to show them how good it worked. So he loved this independent dealership because they had a one on one communication with the farmer. Now 12 N. River, because it was built first, was a perfect place for a dealership because as you can see from these Sanborn maps, the one on the left. Now you’ve got my nomination, which is the last rendition, so there is some information that is new, which includes the rail service and some of that information as well. You can see in the one on the left, which is late 1900’s, 1897 I believe, 12 is not there. That little yellow rectangle is actually a freight station because the railroad track went right behind there. The one on the right then, you can see where 2, 6 and 12 are there with the rail station coming back. They’ve even put a rail that comes off of there so there is a rail stop that comes right behind the buildings to unload. Now, again, we’re not sure when they were built, but we do know that 12 was built by 1901 because it’s in a very famous Aurora photograph, which I have learned that everyone has seen a million times of a man jumping off the Hobbs building and so you see that 12 was already there, so in 1901. So this is the year before International Harvester became International Harvester, so we know it pre-dates the company. So they probably chose it because of the rail service, but also because of the structure of the building because it is a heavy timber building. It is an open floor plan and it is a freight elevator, so it was designed as a warehouse. So it was really perfect for an implement showroom and warehouse. Then the photo on the right is a photo from 1906, which you see that 6 now is built, so 6 and 12, and there was an International Harvester sign on the roof. It was only in operation as an International Harvester showroom from 1906 to 1912 and this is because they got too big, or International Harvester got too big and 6-12 was too small. The beauty of the building is it is a cast iron storefront, again, heavy timber construction. 12 worked out so well that 6 is actually built as a mirror of 12. Even if you look at the storefronts, it is exactly a mirror. The floor plans are the same and it’s written as a single nomination because when 6 was added to 12 it really acted as one building. Here is a detail of a cast iron storefront. The door on 12 is original and you can see that’s a cast iron door and that band below the transom is actually the same as the original cornice on the top of the building. So even in this very simple building, they were really taking a look at the details of the design and then the floor stop is, of course, Love Brothers. Love Brothers was a very important cast iron company in Aurora. Again, there is another detail. So this is some interior. The original lifts in both 6 and 12 are still there. They are open and here is a look up the shaft. It was also interesting too because in 6 they made a few improvements because in 12 you have to come in, people would have to come in the door and turn to go into the lift. The lift in 6 actually opens up right to the freight lift so it can come right in. They also put windows in the elevator shaft. You can see this is just the bed of the lift and then it is well lit so as they move from floor to floor. Each floor is connected with these incredibly beautiful aluminum clad fire doors on every single floor in the basement to the top floor. They are all still there. They all still work. All of it is just incredibly beautiful, but you can see how open it is. It has remained open because of the businesses that came in afterwards. They split up the floor of 6 a little bit, the floor of 12 just a little bit, but it is not something that can’t be undone. So this is the 3rd floor of 12. You can see the heavy timber framing. The floor of this 3rd floor is gone and then this is the 1st floor of 12. This is, of course, looking out to River Street. Some of the fenestration on the storefront is changed, but the original cast iron is still there. So even though the glass has changed, the cast iron is still apparent. As I said, 6-12 got too small so they continued down the railroad tracks and they built International Harvester on S. River, which is the same type of framing, heavy timber, brick clad, open frame floor, heavy elevator and everything, but it is twice the size. I’m here asking you for a letter of support because I will be presenting to the State’s Historic Preservation Commission on October 25th. I’m happy to answer any questions or any questions I can answer.
Mr. Signorelli said what are the floors like?
Ms. Olafson said wood floors. You can see the wood floors on 1. This is on 12. The
only ones where they are missing is the 3rd floor of 12. They are covered in plywood.
The wood floors might be existing underneath there, but on all the other floors there’s wood.
Mr. Signorelli said and what kind of condition is that in?
Ms. Olafson said it is in very good condition. It really is in very good condition. They are very lucky because seriously someone really didn’t muck this up and they really could have. There is also B-Board on the ceiling. On the 1st floor of each, there is B-Board. On the second floor, the ceiling is just plain wood, so obviously the showroom was the 1st floor because they went a little bit fancy with the ceiling on those levels as well.
Chairman Miller said I’m really impressed with the research you’ve done. I’ve not been inside those buildings. I would have not have guessed there were functioning aluminum clad fire doors still there from 100 years ago.
Ms. Olafson said it is really amazing that someone did not remove them.
Chairman Miller said so all we need to do is vote on a letter of support. Is that we need to compose a letter or just support the writing of the letter?
Mrs. Morgan said they have a little sheet I fill out and I send back to them. I think I have a cover. Usually I’ll send the Commission recommended approving it for being listed on the National Resister.
Mr. Signorelli said it kind of seems like a slam dunk given the fact that they are in such good condition, both buildings, and that nothing has been altered really.
Ms. Olafson said and the alterations on the first two floors, the walls are not even to the ceiling. They are just like partition walls that can just be knocked out.
Motion to Support Letter of Recommendation Was Made By:
Fernando Castrejon
Motion Seconded By: Al Signorelli
Ayes: Justyn Arnold, Fernando Castrejon, Jen Del Debbio, Amber Foster, Dan Miller, Simon Munoz, Al Signorelli, Mike Walker
Nays: None
A motion was made by Fernando Castrejon, seconded by Al Signorelli, that this agenda item be approved. The motion carried by voice vote.
19-0917 Preliminary review of the Local Landmark Application for Big Woods School located at 3033 N. Eola Road and approval to proceed to a Public Hearing (Big Woods School Foundation NFP - 19-0917 - WI32/4-19.175-HP - JM - Ward 10)
Mrs. Morgan said so this is the Big Woods School. It came before us a year or so ago for the National Register nomination and the Commission approved a letter of support for that National Register nomination. Al Signorelli is bringing this forward with the Landmark’s Subcommittee to make it a Local Landmark. I did receive a letter of support saying that they support this local landmarking of the building. The property was listed in 2016. It was listed under what’s called Criterion C for Architecture, as a good example of a modern one room schoolhouse. It was designed according to the standards set by the State of Illinois at the time to ensure the school had adequate light, ventilation, heat and met safety and sanitary requirements. The period of significance is 1918, the year it was built. It retains sufficient integrity for listing on the National Register. It even still has the one room school still in the building. I believe it still has the chalkboard that was in the building, the original chalkboard. Here is the site you are looking at. This is the letter from the owners saying that they are in support for the landmark. Here are some pictures.
Mr. Signorelli said as you can all see, the Big Woods Foundation has been very good stewards of this building. As you can see, it is in pretty excellent condition, both interior and exterior.
Chairman Miller said I don’t know how common these are, but it just strikes me this is unusual that we would have a one room schoolhouse at this level of integrity in the city. I don’t know how many people have one of these.
Ms. Foster said not many in that condition.
Chairman Miller said I the application even there have been repairs to the roof.
Mr. Signorelli said yes.
Mrs. Del Debbio said this is nice to have in the city.
Mr. Signorelli said and, of course, the local designation, even though it is on the National Register, if someone chose to tear it down, that’s possible. With the local designation I thought it was important because it has a little more teeth.
Mrs. Morgan said it is owned by the non-profit who is trying to adaptively reuse the building and trying to raise funds. It is to proceed to a public hearing. There are two steps in a nomination for a local landmark. First the Commission has to say that there is enough information that it appears to be worth considering for a landmark status. Then we move to an actual hearing where staff has published it in the newspaper and give the public an opportunity to comment. Once the Commission’s decision to either approve it or deny it, either approval or denial is appealable to Council.
Chairman Miller said what kind of windows are currently installed in the building Al?
Mr. Signorelli said I believe they are the original 1 over 1’s.
Mrs. Morgan said they look original or well done. In at least some of these pictures, you can see they have those little ogee lugs. This one looks like two panes over 4 panes.
Chairman Miller said I guess if it is a replacement, it is a pretty meticulous one.
Mrs. Morgan said I don’t think they did major rehabs to this building, so I’m thinking it is probably original, or I would say the majority of them because I don’t think they have ever done any major restoration of the building.
Mr. Signorelli said I don’t believe so, no, just the roof repair.
Chairman Miller said sometimes over the years we may be lucky it that’s really all they did because that keeps the water out.
Mrs. Morgan said the majority of the windows are 2 over 4 double hung with wood frames and wood sashes. I’m assuming original. They didn’t say original on the nomination, but I would assume original.
Mr. Signorelli said the windows, asbestos and bathroom fixtures were removed by the previous owner in anticipation of the structure being destroyed. The original windows have been replaced with exact copies of those originally in the building. One old photograph shows double doors to the front entrance. It is not known when the existing door was installed. The alterations are minimal and have not impacted the integrity of the school.
Chairman Miller said so they actually are very meticulous replacements. I’m impressed.
Ms. Foster said they’ve done a really good job.
Chairman Miller said I don’t know what type of adaptive reuse would work here.
Mr. Walker said it is next to a cemetery and a Romanian Church, so it is sort of a strange little cluster of the three.
Chairman Miller said does it have any parking available to it?
Mr. Walker said the church has a pretty big lot. It is basically only used for a short period on Sunday and that’s a very short walk.
Chairman Miller said they could potentially work something out with that if they ever found a use that required parking like hosting events perhaps.
Mrs. Morgan said was the last discussion I had with them a couple of years back was looking at a banquet hall type of facility and they were going to do an addition to the back. Nothing has every came forward on that.
Chairman Miller said the lot does have room on the back, doesn’t it?
Mrs. Morgan said it does. They do own that property, so possible parking.
Chairman Miller said so they could possibly add parking there or an addition that isn’t too visible from the street.
Mrs. Morgan said I think the addition was slightly recessed and went back.
Chairman Miller said if they want to do banquets, they would have to put in a kitchen. I assume this building doesn’t have one.
Mrs. Morgan said they are trying not to change the actual one room school, so to try to keep that configuration the same and then just add on.
Motion to Move to Public Hearing Was Made By: Al Signorelli
Motion Seconded By: Mike Walker
Ayes: Justyn Arnold, Fernando Castrejon, Jen Del Debbio, Amber Foster, Dan Miller, Simon Munoz, Al Signorelli, Mike Walker
Nays: None
A motion was made by Al Signorelli, seconded by Mike Walker, that this agenda item be forwarded to public hearing. The motion carried by voice vote.
19-0918 Preliminary review of the Local Landmark Application for the Charles and Mary Page house located at 77 S. View Street and approval to proceed to a Public Hearing (Marcus and Jennifer Contaldo - 19-0918 - AU21/3-19.177-HP – JM – Ward 4)
Mrs. Morgan said this is coming forward for a public hearing for a landmark designation. This one we did award a grant to for exterior rehab for the building. It is located within the Westside Historic District. The application includes the legal description and the narrative. The home was built circa 1892 for Charles and Mary Page. It is a 21/2 story Queen Anne building clad in brick on the first floor and shake shingles on the upper levels with a limestone foundation. The house is characterized by the large wrap around porch, large coursed limestone archway over the entrance and the corner turret. The home features decorative soffit, fascia, cornices, brackets and brickwork. The windows are large 1 over 1 double hung windows with some of them having multi-pane over one with small panes, which is a traditional Queen Anne feature. It is kind of on a prominent corner in the Westside Historic District being located at Garfield and View Street. Here are some pictures of it.
Mr. Signorelli said well I certainly have no issues with the proposed landmark designation for this home. Clearly it has a lot of features. Although we have a lot of Italianate and Victorian homes of all makes and sizes and descriptions, this has some really unique features like that limestone archway to the front door. The only thing I’m a little disappointed in is I don’t know anything about the original owners and I really wish there were a little history about them because apparently they must have been a very wealthy important family because that was not an inexpensive house to build. That would be my only comment and just because I’m interested to learn about them a little more.
Chairman Miler said I kind of had the same thought. I was curious who the owners were and did anyone else prominent live there.
Mr. Signorelli said the thing is we’ve done a little bit of research on the other two houses and they were built by very prominent Auroran’s, the other two houses on that block of View. I would suspect the same is true with the original owners here too.
Chairman Miller said this nomination is strong on a couple of features. It is listed in the legislation text here and we didn’t specifically talk about these items with the other nomination, but I think that other nomination is strong on all of them. Number 1 here is the site’s significance with respect to historic, cultural, artistic, social, ethnic or other heritage of the nation, state or community. I would say like artistically, as far as the architecture, this is pretty prominent. I don’t recall ever seeing these limestone arches, or not in the City of Aurora. And the site’s significance as it may be representative of an architectural or engineering type. I think it is architecturally significant. It mentions indigenous materials. We know there was limestone mined locally. I doubt we have any way to know where the stone came from, but we know that there was local production. Number 3 is kind of what we are curious about, the site’s association with an important person or event. I’m sort of curious about who were the Pages’ or did anyone else prominent live there. The site’s identity as a notable work of a master builder. I don’t know if it is possible to find out who built it, but it was a creative person.
Mr. Signorelli said well 5 and 6 are certainly applicable.
Chairman Miller said I think it is very strong on 5 and 6. As far as our Westside District, I don’t know of any building that is more visible. This on a corner at the top of a hill. It might be the most visible house in the Westside District. It is architecturally significant. The preferences of the owner. I’m really thankful the owners are cooperative. And economic potential, number 7 is probably more relevant to more like a potential commercial building. It is certainly functional as a residence and I think that is sufficient.
Mr. Signorelli said I think we should proceed to the public hearing.
Motion to Move to Public Hearing was Made by: Al Signorelli
Motion Seconded By: Fernando Castrejon
Ayes: Justyn Arnold, Fernando Castrejon, Jen Del Debbio, Amber Foster, Dan Miller, Simon Munoz, Al Signorelli, Mike Walker
Nays: None
A motion was made by Al Signorelli, seconded by Fernando Castrejon, that this agenda item be forwarded to public hearing. The motion carried by voice vote.
Pending
Committee Reports
A) Grants - Dan Miller, Chariman
No Report.
B) Near Eastside Historic District - Jennifer Baird-del Debbio, Chairperson
No Report.
C) Riddle Highlands Historic District - Fernando Castrejon, Chairperson
No Report.
D) Public Awareness - Mike Walker, Chariman
No Report.
E) Landmarks - Al Signorelli, Chariman
Mr. Signorelli said as far as Landmark, just what we discussed here tonight.
F) FoxWalk Design Review - Fernando Castrejon, Chairperson
No Report.
G) Tanner/Palace Historic District Committee - Justyn Arnold, Chairperson
No Report.
Announcements
Mr. Signorelli said before the meeting began, I was talking to a couple of you about the possibility of, and this is just throwing it out there because we don’t even know if it is possible, but I was wondering and hoping if there would be some way to save some features if something is salvageable at all from the Masonic Temple. What my thought was, apparently there’s not a whole lot of anything left in the building, although I did remember, I seem to recall the railings as being metal, so they wouldn’t have been destroyed in a fire I don’t think. What basically I thought could be important was the front entrance, both the double doors, the transom window above and if possible the pilasters on either side and the pediment on top and then if we got really crazy maybe some of the columns that are above that. I don’t even know what would be possible. I thought too that, I haven’t spoken to him yet, but if John Jaros from the Historic Society would be interested at all in having that and/or showing it and putting it somewhere. I’m just throwing it out there.
Mrs. Morgan said I think Ed sent an e-mail to our code officials to get thoughts on how structurally sound they think that might be. I think they are planning on a two phases kind of a demolition. It might not be something we know until they actually stabilize and then start. The top is the main issue of the stabilization. Once they get that stabilized, we might have a better idea if there is any way to salvage materials.
Mr. Signorelli said I was just thinking too, isn’t there two double side doors that might mimic the two front doors that are on the one side?
Mrs. Del Debbio said I don’t recall what they look like actually, but the front doors definitely. The neighbors and I have been talking about that. We would love to see something salvaged, something used on the East Side in some park setting. I know they found some remnants of other buildings in the Fox River some years ago and wound up putting them down along Broadway, so even if we could get just some of the columns. It be interesting in a park setting maybe.
Chairman Miller said thanks for that Al. If there’s any way any architectural item might be saved that would be great. I don’t know if there is anything we can do to facilitate that.
Mrs. Morgan said we just met with the Design Review Committee and looking at the Terminal Building. They came in with the architectural plans for that. They are working with the State Preservation Office on getting approval for all the work for tax credits.
Mrs. Morgan said we also have approved some building permits for the Hobbs Building. They are also pursuing tax credits.
Adjournment
A motion was made by Al Signorelli, seconded by Fernando Castrejon, that the meeting be adjourned. The motion carried by voice vote. Chairman Miller adjourned the meeting at 8:11 p.m.
https://www.aurora-il.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10102019-2039?__cf_chl_captcha_tk__=7d4b66cb60674d47de570b14efab24f985f20cd8-1575335369-0-AXWgC5O09LJyJ3ahqoz-IPQWbgAOEA-cz7L_hIP5LsIWNeOrrWNqyCsXclx5S_Gdn1sC2hxv5RwIGSxuEO1nbtospnmFQbB6MCuXkncXOF5lUI242R6DMFxyvSIwmRAk9o5pKdzk9wvYgM30k1x4sRvTYkwNkQA4-9vAlNjNqPN_wvTOHaQ7--lkTqjo6XtaJ6eoedMe5oGEpr4ZZyEUnH0fr6TDylJ-VCp8SzhQ12IJAebUtUcMr6ekBQRCxV_wsk-mZKlMsEq4W6mHfZcq5kztaNuUpkFysu3SJrpNNIYeThByvh_He1d8KmCSHBieOQaju9bqF5Hr-EKfHGhNRubpFQpwajO2HCIvwSuHJNsJ
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