Historic Commission

Tuesday, February 18, 2025 Conley Room, City Hall I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:04 pm Present In-person – Louise Ferrebee (Chair), Bob Purdy (Secretary), Mike Hill (Treasurer), Debra Corwin, Nancy Flannery, Syed Hussain, Elizabeth Krecisz, II. Public Comments None III. Approval of January Meeting Minutes Approved on a motion by Nancy, seconded by LIzzy, and passed unanimously. IV. Treasurer Report A $250 security deposit was made for the upcoming event at DuPage History Museum. V. Old Business A. Preservation Month 2025 i. Timeline. Louise will present this at the March meeting ii. May 7 Lecture. Bob confirmed that the library is now accepting reservations and is promoting the talk. The commission will be doing its own promotion as well, to supplement the expected City emails and Facebook postings. B. Social/Educational Event for Historic Register Property Owners. A date change to Thursday, June 5 was decided. This will follow the Preservation Month sign placements and allow more time for invitations, RSVPs, and other event planning. i. Rental Agreement. This will be reviewed by city legal department before completing with room layout choices and other details to be determined. ii. Focus of event. a. Position the Commission as an official “arm” of the City to inform, educate, advocate, etc. Clarify that we are NOT involved in Historic Preservation. b. Describe the Historic Register program as it exists today. Talk about its evolution from the “Landmark” program that WHPC started. c. Explain the missing file information for homes that were researched prior to the Commission’s involvement and our need to update the records. d. Provide a forum for the property owners to learn more about Wheaton History resources, historic districts, and local, state, and national preservation organizations.  iii. Letter to invitees. Deb presented her draft of the April letter announcing the May sign placements. Revisions were discussed, including a “save the date” preview of the upcoming invitation to the Event. iv. RSVPs will be required via wheaton.il.us. A city phone number will also be provided as an alternative. v. Address and name database. Louise will be converting the historic register master spreadsheet information to a database. Data sheets for each owner will be developed to allow missing information to be added. VI. New Business A. Understanding Landmark Status (Mike). This was postponed until the March meeting. B. Register of Historic Place program i. Review of its development. Louise presented a description of the program and its timeline from the original Center for History landmark program—paid by owners—to the honorary Historic Register program offered by the Historic Commission today. Syed will be developing a graphic view of this to be presented as a visual at our social/education event. ii. Inquiries about modifications to properties in the register. This will be explained at the event and eventually answered on the website. VII. Tabled Walking Tour of Main St and Wheaton Ave residences – What is possible with GIS Map? VIII. Commissioner Comments  The city was notified about the Theosophical Society L.W. Rogers building being considered by the Illinois National Register Advisory Council at their February 28, 2025 meeting for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register is the Federal government's official list of historic properties worthy of preservation.  Louise reminded commissioners about the February 23 Appreciation Brunch. IX. Adjournment A motion to adjourn was made by Lizzy, seconded by Bob, and passed unanimously. The meeting concluded at 8:39 pm VI. Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 18, 2025. Respectfully submitted, Bob Purdy 2