Historic Commission

FINAL Minutes of the Wheaton Historic Commission February 17, 2015 Meeting at Wheaton City Hall, Wheaton, IL. In attendance: Nancy Flannery (Chair), Trent Nichols (Vice Chair), Tom Kay, Greg Morrison, Emelie Engling, and Bob Shuster. Absent: Steph McGrath and Barbara Dutton (Secretary). Guests: Frank Principe The meeting was called to order by Nancy at 7:05 p.m. A quorum was present. Public Comments: Frank Principe passed around three handouts related to the National Geodetic Survey “classical horizontal” discs installed in 1950s and located in Wheaton. These discs were used as part of surveying Wheaton. The handouts (on 8.5 x 11 paper) were reproductions of photos of National Geodetic Survey “classical horizontal” discs. Two of these discs are still intact in Wheaton. Discs are about 4-6 inches, and were located about 12 feet part. Frank found one. Minutes of the January 20, 2015 meeting were approved as amended following a motion made by Trent Nichols and seconded by Greg Morrison. Old Business Preservation Week Preservation Week Dates: Preservation Week dates were determined to be Friday, May 15 to Monday, May 25. Motion to accept those dates was moved by Greg Morrison and seconded by Bob Shuster. Updated on Speaker for Preservation Week: Bob Shuster reported that Paul Herbert, Executive Director of the First Division Museum at Cantigny, is unavailable during Preservation Week. Bob also approached a past speaker Preservation Week speaker on the Civil War and former Wheaton College History Professor, Dr. David Maas. Bob confirmed that Dr. Maas is available to give a lecture on Blanchard Hall at Wheaton College and the Underground Railroad from May 1st to May 20th. Emelie Engling reported the dates during which the conference room at the Library is available in May. After discussion, it was decided that Bob will check with Dr. Maas and book him for one of those dates. Emelie will then let Nancy know when the library room is confirmed. Possible Home History Research Session at Wheaton Public Library: Since Steph McGrath was not present, Nancy gave her report. Steph obtained available dates from the library. This event will be done by appointment and not a drop-in event as we did last year. After discussion, the Commission reached consensus to schedule this event on 5/23/15 and 5/25/2015. Nancy will get back to Steph and Donna Freymark, Wheaton Public Library, to discuss the times available for this event. Steph also wants to have a similar event prior to Preservation Week. Nancy will also arrange this with Steph and Donna. Dates will depend on their schedules. There will also be an exhibit at the library developed by the Commission. FINAL Ways to promote Preservation Week were discussed and considered. Some ideas were to develop an email list, to ask Preservation Week partner organizations for their email lists of Wheaton residents that have interest in history, to create a Wheaton Historic Commission Facebook page, to solicit the 160 landmark property owners for their email, and to develop an independent email account for the Commission to handle inquiries. Trent will contact DuPage County Historical Museum regarding their email list. Greg will explore the feasibility of creating a Facebook page. Other potential Preservation Week events were discussed. Since Barbara Dutton was absent, the issue of creating a bicycle historical tour map was tabled. Since the Commission promotes the annual events held by the Milton Township Cemetery Authority / Friends of the Pioneer Cemetery (i.e., the Jewel Grove Cemetery Memorial Day event and the Pleasant Hill Cemetery event usually held in June), Nancy will get the dates from their website and/or Bob Jacobsen. A tour/Open House of Nancy’s Edward Dart-designed home is also an option this year. Some discussion of past events, such as the Trolley Tour done at least times in the past, paid for by the Commission. Tom will review his files to see what those included. Nancy will research current trolley vendors/fees and report back to the Commission. She will also email the Commissioners a list of past Preservation Week events that she has compiled. Promotion of Preservation Week: Nancy to send invitation email request to participate to the other past and prospective Preservation Week local partner organizations, including: Cantigny Park (McCormick Museum & First Division Museum); DuPage County Historical Museum; Center for History; Wheaton Public Library; Wheaton College Archives & Special Collections; Billy Graham Center; Theosophical Society in America; Adams Park Preservation Council; Wheaton Grand Theater; any others identified. Landmark Properties List of Landmark properties for webpage: Discussion centered on possible items to include. Nancy pointed out that many items are missing and that the Commission needs the original landmark applications in order to fill in the gaps. The plan to request past landmark property applications and their data from Center for History was discussed. It was agreed that it is essential the Commission have copies of these applications and their attached research. Status Certificate Design: Trent will provide examples of certificates for Commissioners to discuss at the next meeting. Remote Attendance Update: Nancy updated the Commission on the process necessary for Commissioners to attend the monthly meetings remotely. The City Council will need to pass an ordinance allowing all commissions to permit remote attendance. It was decided by unanimous consent to table this issue until later. Commissioner Contact Sheet: Nancy passed around the updated Commissioner Contact sheet and requested that corrections be made. She will email it also to the absent Commissioners before returning it to the City. FINAL Commissioner Comments: Bob suggested that the Jesse Wheaton house would be appropriate for the next bollard project. The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 pm by consensus due to the lack of a quorum at the end of the meeting.