Historic Commission

Tuesday, August 20, 2019 Held at City Hall, Wheaton, Illinois I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm. Present: Nancy Flannery (Chair), Barbara Dutton (Vice Chair), Steph McGrath (Secretary), Emelie Engling (remote), Bob Purdy, Linda Moran Absent: Andrew Welker II. Public Comments None. III. Approval of Minutes Minutes of the July 16, 2019 meeting were approved as amended on a motion by Bob, seconded by Barbara and passed unanimously. IV. Old Business A. Nancy informed the Commission that the DuPage County Historical Museum is preparing to do some public relations about the Adams Memorial Library mantelpiece, but requested some assistance with additional details. The subject of salvaging other historic building materials from landmark houses being demolished was discussed. Steph pointed out that years ago the Wheaton Historic Preservation Council did this when they were more focused on local historic buildings but quit when storage space became a problem. There are companies that run salvage sales at properties slated for demolition but they tend to attract salvagers/buyers from all over Chicagoland. The Commission agreed a current concern is how to keep the items local. B. Steph updated the Commission on the issues with the darkness of the 1887 station real-photo postcard image of the downtown railroad depot which will be used as one of the site marker photographs. Nancy will check the agreement the Commission has to see if we are allowed to have the image’s darkness altered. C. Bob spoke about the CA&E downtown station marker text and how it is being updated and the order of text changed. The Commission is also interested in creating signs for the CA&E Railroad, Founders Park, and Chicago Golf. D. The Wheaton Register of Historic Places application for 811 N. Scott was discussed. A vote was taken for acceptance on a motion made by Steph, seconded by Bob, and passed with Linda Moran, the owner of 811 N. Scott, abstaining. V. New Business A. Nancy distributed copies of the budget for FY 2020. The total amount of the Commission’s budget will remain at $5,000 with changes in distribution have been made to accommodate projects such as additional bollard signs, replacing the Pride in Preservation signs and professionally redoing the Mid- Century Modern tour map. B. The Commission discussed the proposed Memorial Park Veterans’ Memorial redesign and the historical dates to use for various wars / military engagements. Some are not a specific date, but more of an era or time period, a problem other memorial sites have. C. Nancy introduced the Wheaton Register of Historic Places application for 218 N. Ellis Avenue. Steph mentioned that the owners participated in one of the Commission’s Home History Research one-on-ones  HISTORIC COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES May 21, 2019 at the Library. It was agreed that Nancy will contact the owners and request additional information / sources and required photographs. D. The Commission will be doing additional Home History Research one-on-ones at the Library outside of the usual events held during Preservation Month. Potential dates were discussed. E. Nancy reminded the Commission that Preservation Month planning has begun and the Commission needs to develop potential lecture topics and lecturers for Preservation Month 2020. VI. Commissioner Comments - Linda is very interested in the architectural salvage idea. - Bob watched the video of the August 12, 2019 City Council Planning Session discussion re: the Roosevelt Corridor project. - Nancy followed up with a review of the August 12, 2019 City Council Planning Session discussion re: the Roosevelt Corridor project. VII. Adjournment Steph moved to adjourn, Linda seconded; the motion passed unanimously, and the meeting concluded at 9:30 pm. 2