Historic Commission

Tuesday, September 17, 2024 Gamon Room, City Hall I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm Present In-person – Louise Ferrebee (Chair), Bob Purdy (Secretary), Nancy Flannery, Syed Hussain Absent – Mike Hill Public – Debra Corwin, Jackson Metcalf II. Public Comments Debra Corwin and Jackson Metcalf are two of three recent Historic Commission applicants. They each reviewed their backgrounds, work experience, and interest in serving as members. City council approval is expected at an upcoming meeting. III. Approval of August Meeting Minutes Approved on a motion by Syed, seconded by Nancy, and passed unanimously. IV. Treasurer Report: None at this time. New expenditures are anticipated, to include brochures and other printing . V. Old Business A. Vote on 831 N Washington (DeCarlo-Ferguson home) Historic Register status was approved on a motion by Bob, seconded by Nancy, and passed unanimously. Louise will inform the owners and advise them of historic plaque availability. B. Publicity Recap  French Market. Louise and Bob recapped our very successful presence at the September 7 French Market. Several owners expressed interest in researching their homes for Historic Register status, and many others wanted more information about the Commission. We look forward to planning two French Market dates in 2025, preferably April and September.  New Promotional Brochures. Changes and revisions discussed last month for the two brochures—one describing the Historic Commission and one about the Historic Site Markers—were passed to Halie Cardinal, Communications Dept, for final production.  October 23 Cemeteries of Wheaton lecture. A new image was used for the promotional flyer used at the French Market and also for the Library event calendar.   Table at Library. Louise is working with the library to have an information table in the first floor display area, on a day prior to the October 23 Cemetery talk.  Geoffrey Baer Evening at DuPage County Historical Museum. As DCHM partners, we will seek an opportunity to distribute Historic Commission information or flyers at this important fundraising event on November 7. C. Permanent Historic Markers  3 Missing from Memorial Park. These have been stored in the Mary Lubko Center basement. Now that the park renovation work has been completed, two of them will be reinstalled. The third one, formerly on the E.H. Gary house wall, is a much older design; it will remain in storage and be left off the revised brochure.  Updated Brochure. Final changes are being made and will be ready for printing soon. D. Downtown Design Review Board. The requirement to have a Commission member on this board was reviewed. We hope to have a volunteer soon. VI. New Business. A. 2024 Annual Report and 2025 Budget—due October 15. Louise is preparing this and it will be discussed at the October 15 meeting. VII. Updates A. Walking Tour of Main Street. Work on this has been delayed. There is concern about the usability of the GIS map on cell phones; Syed agreed to look into this. B. Red Grange historical marker. Postponed until other projects are completed C. Commission Handbook ongoing development. Louise will be emailing the recent updates to members. VIII. Commissioner Comments Nancy—Was working with Gretchen Murphy to schedule another Home History Research session in November, but has now learned this will not work with the Library schedule. IX. Adjournment. Bob moved to adjourn, Nancy seconded, and the motion passed unanimously. The meeting concluded at 8:19 pm. Respectfully submitted, Robert Purdy, Secretary 2