Historic Commission

Minutes of the City of Wheaton Historic Commission December 15, 2015 Meeting Held at City Hall, Wheaton, Illinois Attendance- Present: Barbara Dutton (Vice Chair), Nancy Flannery (Chair), Maureen Fogerty, Tom Kay, Steph McGrath (Secretary), Greg Morrison, Frank Principe. Absent: Emelie Engling. The meeting was called to order at 7:03 pm. Minutes of the November 17, 2015 meeting were approved following a motion made by Tom, seconded by Frank, and passed unanimously. -Public Comment Dr. David Maas introduced himself and recounted his academic background, teaching experience, local history interest and work as an author and speaker. He recently retired from Wheaton College after a 40 year career there. Tom also shared some information of their time together at the college. Old Business -RR Station Photo & Bollard Nancy and Steph reported on their efforts to secure a photo of the 1973 downtown Wheaton station. The Chicago & North Western archives provided a nice image, but we need to check to find out if we could crop it to fit our space. Frank said he’d check with the Wheaton Center office. Steph is still trying to connect with people affiliated with the original developer, McHugh Levin. Nancy’s research request for the DuPage County Historical Museum is still pending. Steph mentioned that Jean Moore’s papers are in the archives at the Carol Stream Library, but didn’t see anything promising in the online finding aid, which might mean they only took Gretna and Carol Stream items. Nancy thought now that we have some images in hand and know they are horizontal, that it would be good to check with Nameplate regarding the plate size and draft layout, since this bollard is planned to be larger than our existing bollards signs. Nancy will email Nameplate with this inquiry. -Wheaton Civil Defense Control Center Frank reported on his tour of the soon to be demolished Wheaton Civil Defense Control Center. He was given some original historical materials, but as the Historic Commission is not a collecting organization, discussion ensued as to where he might donate the items. The Center technically wasn’t located in Wheaton despite its name; GPS coordinates place it in Winfield. The DuPage County Historical Museum was suggested as an appropriate repository, and Steph mentioned the materials relate to others already in the DuPage County Historical Museum (DCHM) collection. -Preservation Celebration The length and dates for next year’s Preservation event was discussed. Barb suggested Preservation Month, but put the Pride in Preservation signs up as a shorter event within the month. She reiterated that lengthening the celebration might make it easier for the public and commissioners to attend more events. Nancy brought in the local school schedule, with the idea we might ask a group of HS students to place and pick up the signs as a civics service project. After considering alternatives, adhering to the national preservation month of May and displaying the signs May 13 to 23 appeared to be the best strategy. Preliminary discussions focused on scheduling other events including Bob Shuster’s lecture and a home history research event. Nancy would like to have another historic site map handout as we did last year and possibly more than one. Barbara and Maureen reported they plan to meet in early 2016 with DCHM staff as discussed in past Historic Commission meetings. They have a second, local, photographer to consider for their idea of a photographic art exhibit on historic Wheaton gardens. Until plans are firmer Maureen said she won’t consult with the City’s Fine & Cultural Arts Commission. -Bike tour Barbara reported that the Environmental Commission bike tour map of Wheaton parks is awaiting city staff approval, but didn’t know if it will be available for next May’s Preservation Month. -Register of Historic Places The subcommittee met, but some felt the revised application was not ready for web publication yet whereas others felt it was good enough. Options included posting the draft and tweaking it later, or taking down the old and adding a notice “new version coming soon.” Nancy advised that the old version removed ASAP since it does not contain any reference to including a narrative section which is now required for approval. Steph noted the web page information provides very good information for anyone who wants to start the research and nomination process now. It was agreed to remove the old application, add the coming soon notice along with the commission’s gmail address, and the subcommittee members agreed to a January 15th deadline to submit revisions to the City. New Business -Financial Report Nancy reviewed some items we might expend our funds on: RR bollard, Preservation Month handouts, events, and promotion. She said we could get better PR by adding using paid ads, both print and social media. The local history blog idea that Steph worked on in the past with Donna Freymark at Wheaton Public Library (WPL) could be jumpstarted with some assistance on the design and set up of the blog, so we could focus on writing content. Greg said he had some experience with the blog software WordPress and offered to help. If it turns out we need more help, we could hire someone for development assistance. -New Commissioner Before David left the meeting, he asked each commissioner to express in one sentence their opinion of the mission and purpose of the Historic Commission. He also wondered if the commission focused more on architecture vs. people. It was explained that the historic category was based on people and events, and our website mentions biographical and genealogical research, but we don’t need to replicate the excellent genealogy services of the WPL. It was noted that while we have a list of potential candidates, we have not asked any if they’d like to apply, nor do we have any active applications. We have one opening. The possibility of Dr. Maas applying was favorably received by all. Commissioner Comments -Maureen plans to attend the January 4th City Council meeting to read our statement protesting the possible demolition of the landmarked Drummond house at 208 N. West Street. It was agreed that the statement was fine as is, touching on the Drummond home’s history and Northside Overlay district guidelines. -Steph passed around the real estate listing for our landmarked Ballyshear, Charles Blair Macdonald’s 1897 home in the Chicago Golf Club Colony. Maureen admired the sweeping main staircase which Steph noted was an architectural hallmark of the architect Jarvis Hunt. -Frank said he read that someone is compiling an Arcadia book on Naperville. He wondered if one had been done on Wheaton; it has. -Nancy passed out handouts on Kelly Park, one of our historic sites. Adjournment Greg moved to adjourn, Tom seconded, the motion passed unanimously, and the meeting concluded at 9:12 pm. Next Meeting: Tuesday, January 19, 2016 at 7:00 pm, City Hall Steph McGrath, Secretary