Historic Preservation Commission

Preservation Commission Meeting Agenda June 11, 2024 - 3:30 PM City Council Chambers, City Hall, 3rd Floor, 1528 Third Avenue, Rock Island, IL 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call Linda Anderson, Bruce Peterson, Deb Kuntzi 3. Public Comment 4. Minutes a. Approval of the April 30, 2024 Meeting Minutes Motion: Motion whether or not to approve the April 30, 2024 Meeting Minutes VV Voice vote is needed 5. Other Business/New Business a. Determination of Landmark Application Completeness for the Reeves House at 839 23rd Street Motion: Motion whether or not to determine that the application for 836 23rd Street is complete RC Roll Call vote is needed. b. Recommendation regarding Landmark Application for the Reeves House at 839 23rd Street Motion: Motion whether or not to recommend approval of the landmark application for 839 23rd Street RC Roll Call vote is needed. 6. Adjourn This agenda may be obtained in accessible formats by qualified persons with a disability by making appropriate arrangements from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday, by contacting the City Clerk's Office at (309) 732-2010 or visiting in person at: 1528 Third Avenue, Rock Island, IL 61201. Page 1 of 13  Rock Island Historic Preservation Preliminary Determination Subcommittee Meeting Minutes Lower Level (Basement) Conference Room, City Hall 1528 3rd Avenue April 30, 2024 3:00 PM Voting Members Linda Anderson Present Bruce Peterson Deb Kuntzi Staff Present Eunice Amissah-Mensah Guests Diane Oestreich Alan Carmen Call to Order and Roll Call Chair Anderson called the meeting to order at 3:03 PM and read the roll call. Public Comment No members of the public were present for comment, so the meeting continued. Approval of the Previous Meeting Minutes Peterson moved to approve the meeting minutes for March 6, 2024. Kuntzi seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously on a vote of 3 to 0. Other Business/New Business a. Determination of Landmark application completeness for 729 22nd Street Chair Anderson asked for a motion to determine that the application for 729 22nd Street is complete. Kuntzi moved determine that the application for 729 22nd Street is complete. Peterson seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously on a vote of 3 to 0. b. Recommendation regarding Landmark Application for729 22nd Street Chair Anderson asked for a motion to recommend the approval of the landmark application for 741 22nd Street. Kuntzi moved to recommend the approval of the landmark application for 741 22nd Street to the Preservation Commission. Peterson seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously on a vote of 3 to 0. c. Determination of Landmark Application completeness for 741 22nd Street Chair Anderson asked for a motion to determine that the application for 729 22nd Street is complete. Peterson moved determine that the application for 729 22nd Street is complete. Kuntzi seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously on a vote of 6 to 0. Oestreich and Carmen abstained from voting. Page 2 of 13 Chair Anderson provide reasoning as to why the subcommittee considers the application for 729 22nd Street to be complete. d. Recommendation regarding Landmark Application for 741 22nd Street. Chair Anderson asked for a motion to recommend the approval of the landmark application for 741 22nd Street. Peterson moved to recommend the approval of the landmark application for 741 22nd Street to the Preservation Commission. Kuntzi seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously on a vote of 3 to 0. Other Business None. Adjournment Chair Anderson asked for a motion to adjourn. Peterson moved to adjourn. Kuntzi seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously on a vote of 3 to 0 at 3:21 PM. Minutes submitted by Eunice Amissah-Mensah. Page 3 of 13  1 839 23rd Street, Rock Island, IL 61201 Marsha Harmon, Gregory Curtis 839 23rd Street, Rock Island IL 61201 XX \ X X X Diane Oestreich 816 22nd Street, Rock Island IL 309 788-1845 Diane61201@gmail.com Page 4 of 13  2 Nomination Criteria & Significance The 1897 Robert Emmet Reeves house is eligible for Local Landmark designation based on three criteria in the Rock Island Preservation Ordinance. Criterion 1. Significant Value as part of the heritage of the nation, state, or community. This home is an early and very successful example of the Broadway Great Unveiling. Although inappropriate siding had been removed before, this was the first area to use the term Great Unveiling, which spread nationwide, thanks to Broadway’s innovation which promoted neighborhood involvement in Unveiling projects. Criterion 3: Representative of the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural …...style inherently valuable for the study of a period, style, craftsmanship, method of construction or use of indigenous materials and which retains a high degree of integrity. The overall massing of the Reeves House is an intricate Queen Anne style, but because it also shows elements of the Colonial Revival, popularized by the 1893 Columbian Exposition it is a style known as Free Classic Queen Anne. The roof line is especially striking and the integrity, thanks to unveiling and restoration in the early 1990s, is excellent. Criterion 5: Identifiable as an established and familiar visual feature in the community owing to its unique location or physical characteristics. This house and its neighbors are contributing structures in the National Register listing of the Broadway Historic District. 23rd Street, between 5th and 10th Avenues, is one of the most interesting and largely intact areas of Broadway. There is a Landmark next door at 835 23rd Street, and another a few doors north at 817 23rd Street. Catty-corner across 9th Avenue is the Landmark at 904 23rd Street. The 500 block of 23rd Street has two Landmarks, 536 and 544 23rd and the 600 block has another at 603 23rd Street. Others in this stretch of 23rd Street are clearly eligible for Landmark status, making these blocks a very important area within the Broadway Historic District and in the city of Rock Island as well. Page 5 of 13  3 Contents Nomination Criteria & Significance 2 Contents & Legal Description 3 Illustrations 4 Land and House History 5 Broadway’s Great Unveiling 6 Architecture 8 References & Sources 10 ————————————————————————————————————— Legal Description: REF 1 Lot No 42 in that part of the City of Rock Island, known and called Mixter’s Subdivision of Sub Out Lot 24 Section 35 Township 18 North Range 2 West of the 4th Principal Meridian Page 6 of 13  4 Illustrations Title Page Figure 1. 1898 Sanborn Map.. …………………………………..…………………………… 5 Figure 2. Great Unveiling, NW Corner..…………...…………………….…………………….. 6 Figure 3. Great Unveiling, South Side………...………………………………………………. 6 Figure 4. Great Unveiling, West Side Showing Missing Modillions..……………………...… 7 Figure 5. SW Corner …………………………. ……...……………………………….…….. 7 Figure 6. Front Porch from South.……………………...…….……………………....………. 8 Figure 7. Rear of House from SE..……………………………………………..……..…….... 8 Figure 8 Original Under Porch Detail..………………………………………..……………… 8 Figure 9. Garage……….…………………………………………………………...……….… 9 Figure 10. Retaining Wall , Fence, & Brick Sidewalk…………………………………………. 9 Figure 11. Home at 1217 21st Street……………………………………………………………………. 9 Page 7 of 13  5 Land & House History The land in the vicinity of the Reeves House first came into private ownership on May 30, 1836, when R.H. & J. W. Spencer were granted a 126 acre parcel from the United States Government. REF 1. A few transactions ensued, but the most important was when 10 acres was sold to George Mixter in 1850. Mixter was a prominent businessman, who identified his occupation as “capitalist” and his home as “foot of Broadway, south side” in 1873. REF 2 An 1857 map shows Mixter’s house in the middle of Broadway, which was not a through street, at what would be about 8th Avenue. REF 3 The following is based on research and notes made during the Carothers’ ownership by Suzanne Curry and Susan Carothers. REF 4 Based on purchase and mortgage transactions, this home was built in 1897 for Robert Emmet Reeves, who was generally known as Emmet. Emmet was unmarried, but the 1900 Census showed his father, John Reeves, a Civil War veteran as the Head of Household, with Emmet as his son. In 1903, Emmet married Lena, maiden name unknown. The house was sold to Louis August Schmidt, a widower at that time, but he appears to later have wed Sarah and lived there with a daughter and grandson in 1920. He would remain here until 1932 and again was listed as a widower, but daughter and grandson lived with him. REF 5 In 1932, the home was purchased by Fred Kahlke of the shipbuilding company and it began a long history of rental occupancy. It was sold briefly in 1946 to the DeReu family who divorced shortly thereafter amid allegations of cruelty. In 1949 it was sold to Arthur and Betty Carstens, who remained here until 1993. This is likely when it was duplexed as Betty’s parents, the Ramsdales, moved into the house with them in 1957. The Ramsdale/Carsten family are also likely the ones who added synthetic shingle siding and enclosed the back porch. The two families remained there until 1993, when it was sold to Dan and Susan Carothers. The Carothers began their residency by undertaking a complete restoration beginning on the interior. Then a Broadway “Great Unveiling” removed most of the two-tone exterior shingles. Thanks to Dan’s business connections (Kodiak Construction), a lift truck was donated for the Unveiling day. Removal of the shingles exposed missing modillions in front as well as missing drip edge at the base of the narrow clapboard siding. Fortunately original windows and most of the original trim remained. The Carothers completely restored the exterior and returned the interior to single family as well as built a sympathetic and appropriate garage. In 1914 there was a Special Assessment for paving 9th Avenue. That was followed in 1924 by paving 23rd Street and, finally, in 1938 by an assessment for alley paving. The first Sanborn map showing the property is from 1898. REF 6. It shows frame construction with bays on the south and west and an open back porch. There are no outbuildings. By 1957, the back porch has been enclosed and there is a one-story garage. Fig. 1. 1898 Sanborn Map Page 8 of 13  6 Broadway’s Great Unveiling The Broadway Historic Area was formally organized in 1988, as a spin off from the Rock Is- land Preservation Society, which had created several walking tour events in the area. In 1998, thanks to projects like the Great Unveiling, National Register listing changed it to Broadway Historic District. In the early 1990s, thanks to visionary resident Karen Williams, who was president of the or- ganization, the Great Unveiling was launched. A little publicity and willing owners brought residents together every spring to help homeowners remove later siding. In the easiest cases, it was vinyl or aluminum clapboard, but sometimes shingles or tarpaper-based fake brick was a much more time consuming and difficult project. Sometimes, Rock Island Economic Growth sponsored these unveilings and then restored the home for sale. Unveiling was undertaken with some trepidation—no one knew exactly what was under the inappropriate siding or how much damage had been caused by the siding process. Many times elements were missing, especially flared or ornamental drip edges on walls, door and window trim removed, and brackets or modillions removed. The home at 839 23rd Street is an early example of Broadway’s Great Unveiling, and the pho- tos below show some of the repairs that had to be made here. Yet, as in many cases, the overall virgin growth cedar siding was in surprisingly good condition. Fig. 2. Great Unveiling, NW corner Fig. 3. Great Unveiling, South Side Page 9 of 13  7 Great Unveiling (continued) Fig. 4. Great Unveiling, West Side Showing Missing Modillions Architecture This is a late Queen Anne influenced home that incorporates much detailing from the newly popular Classical and Colonial Revival. It’s known as a Free Classic Queen Anne. Queen Anne details include the irregular footprint, with a three sided bay on the south and a much larger front bay projection. Although the roof is a basic side-facing gable with returns (the re- turns are a colonial detail), it is interrupted by the tower-like extension over the large front bay. Windows, with the small panes on the upper sash on the second floor and attic are Colonial de- tails. Modillions under the eaves were frequently found on Queen Annes. They were recon- structed after Unveiling revealed their original presence. Modillions evolved from the ornate brackets that were popular decades earlier in Italianate and Second Empire styles. They evoke a structural or ornamental bracket, but are strictly decorative. The two-story bay on the south has its own small roof, as does the square oriel window on the north. A similar but mirror im- age home is located at 1217 21st Street, which may indicate this is from a pattern book. Next door, at 1209 21st Street, the overall configuration is the same, but it has a gable roof over the front ‘tower’. Colonial/Classical Revival details include the paired Doric porch columns, the dentils at the top of the porch walls and under the porch roof as well as the narrow clapboard siding, which is typical of the early 1900s. The porch roof itself is nearly flat. There is a flared drip edge at the bottom of the exterior walls and on the porch bases, but none between the first and second stories. The door and window trim is very simple with molding at the top. A lower, two-story hipped addition to the roof extends part way over the enclosed back porch, which also has a hipped roof. Fig. 5. SW Corner Page 10 of 13  8 Architecture (continued) Beneath the front porch is an ornate wood grid (backed by screen to exclude critters). This is not be original, as a photo taken during restoration shows a similar but different pattern of grid. The newer wood screen door has a similar design to that currently under the porch. The house has been fitted with wood storm windows. The new garage has a very steeply pitched roof and narrow cedar clapboard siding. The modern door has been outfitted with hinges and handles to emulate a vintage style. The original brick public sidewalk on both sides has been repaired and re-laid. One addition from the original is a retaining wall with a fence atop. This solved the problem of extensive “cutting through” the yard from 9th Avenue and gave a bit more garden space to the lot. The low open fence does not affect visibility. Fig. 6. Front Porch from South Fig. 7. Rear of House from SE Fig 8. Original Under Porch Detail Page 11 of 13  9 .. Fig. 9. Garage Fig. 10. Retaining Wall, Fence, & Brick Sidewalk 607 W. Edgington Fig. 11. Home at 1217 21st Street Page 12 of 13  10 References and Sources REF 1. Abstract, 839 21st Street REF 2. City Directories through Heritage Quest at Rock Island Public Library REF 3. 1857 Rock Island Map at RICHS REF 4. Notes and Summaries of the abstract and City Directories by Susanne Curry and Susan Carothers, now in the possession of the current owners. REF 5. Census Data through Heritage Quest at Rock Island Public Library REF 6. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Page 13 of 13