Historic Commission

Tuesday, April 16, 2019 Held at City Hall, Wheaton, Illinois I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:03 pm. Present: Nancy Flannery (Chair), Barbara Dutton (Vice Chair), Steph McGrath (Secretary), Emelie Engling, Bob Purdy, Andrew Welker (remote participation) II. Public Comments Patrick Hoare provided an update on his Wheatonia blog posts which started April 1. III. Approval of Minutes Minutes of the March 19, 2019 meeting approved as amended on a motion by Bob, seconded by Emelie and passed unanimously. IV. Old Business A. Steph gave an update on the Downtown Depot sign. B. Preservation Month plans were reviewed. The Commission decided against using high school students to assist with placement of Pride in Preservation signs. The dates for installing and removing the signs were reviewed. Nancy informed the Commission that the dates on the Landmark homes PowerPoint for the Wheaton Public Library display will be done before May 1st. Nancy passed around the recent insert in the local Moneymailer which featured our events. Finally Mayor Suess will present a proclamation for Preservation Month at the May 6th City Council meeting. C. The Commission reviewed the list of file titles for installation at the Wheaton Public Library. D. The Commission has not heard back re questions on the landmark application for 617 N. West Street. E. Possible projects on Wheaton’s history of prohibition and CA&E were discussed. Bob shared information about his CA&E research. V. New Business A. City media is interested in creating one minute videos re Wheaton history. B. Use of Milton Township data for houses was discussed. C. Receiving notification of demolition permits continues to be a problem. Nancy has contacted the city staff. The landmarked house at 828 N. Wheaton is going to be razed and has the original 1890s Adams Memorial Library reading room fireplace mantel piece installed there. Members of the Commission have alerted the Wheaton Public Library, the DuPage County Historical Museum, and the Wheaton Park District. D. Nancy informed the Commission that a scanned file of the City’s Adams Park notebook is in the Commission’s dropbox folder and available for viewing. Steph suggested that the Commission check to see if the Wheaton Public Library has a similar site. E. The potential of the Commission becoming involved in a history gathering re: Chicago Golf Colony houses was discussed. VI. Commissioner Comments Barbara asked in anyone was interested in attending the upcoming Chicago Suburban Preservation Alliance meeting in Park Ridge. She recently took a road trip to Columbus, Indiana and enjoyed seeing the Mid- Century modern structures.  HISTORIC COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Month Date, Year Emelie gave an update on the Wheaton Public Library annual report as well as proposed changes at Memorial Park, including neighborhood objections to the changes. Steph saw “Save Main” signs in yards protesting a proposed development downtown on Main Street in Glen Ellyn. She mentioned that there is also information online about not wanting Glen Ellyn to look like downtown Wheaton and Naperville. Steph suggested this might be an approach the Memorial Park opponents might use. VII. Adjournment Steph moved to adjourn, Barb seconded; the motion passed unanimously. The meeting concluded at 9:10 pm. 2