Historic Commission

Minutes of the City of Wheaton Historic Commission July 19, 2016 Meeting Held at City Hall, Wheaton, Illinois Attendance- Present: Emelie Engling, Nancy Flannery (Chair), Maureen Fogerty, Tom Kay, Steph McGrath (Secretary), Greg Morrison, Frank Principe. Absent: Barbara Dutton (Vice Chair) Public present: Christen Leeann Gall, Northwestern University journalism student; Tim Whelan, Forest Preserve of DuPage County District 4 Commissioner The meeting was called to order at 6:59 pm. Minutes of the June 21, 2016 meeting were approved following a motion by Tom, seconded by Frank, and passed unanimously. New Business -McKee House: Tim Whelan gave an overview of efforts to preserve the McKee House, located in Forest Preserve District of DuPage County - District 4, which includes Wheaton. The McKee Preservation Group was formed to spread the word about the history of this WPA built structure, advocate for its preservation, help craft reuse plans and fundraise to help implement the plans. An engineering study found that the foundation was sound. The immediate need is a new roof. The McKee House is envisioned as a part of a cultural corridor of Forest Preserve historic sites. Reuse ideas include it becoming an ecology center and a bike path way station. An open planning meeting and discussion is scheduled for 7pm August 18 at the Lake Ellyn Boathouse in Glen Ellyn. While the FPDDPC has recently passed a new Historical and Cultural Resources Policy, it envisions preserving some sites for visual pleasure only as a part of the built environment, but not open or used for any purposes. -Financial report: The Commission reviewed cost projections for the 25th Anniversary event and the railroad bollard. -Historic markers list: Memorial Park has multiple markers done at different times, by different organizations, but potential confusion could be avoided by noting which signs were created by the Historic Commission versus other creators, since the idea is to create a master list. Old Business -Railroad bollard: Steph presented mock ups of five new possible site marker designs. The designs were reviewed. Two designs were selected to submit for actual designs, depending on design charges. -25th Anniversary of Historic Commission: Two possible dates were selected for the event to be held at Memorial Park, if still available, September 10th or September 24th. Nancy will follow up with making the arrangements. -Old projects: A review of the status of old projects was deferred to next month’s meeting. Commissioner Comments -Frank updated the Commission on his search for speakers with Wheaton ties -Steph reviewed the status of two historic landmarks and one working towards an application -Nancy presented more detail regarding a threatened historic landmark Adjournment Greg moved, Tom seconded, the motion passed unanimously, and the meeting concluded at 8:35 pm. Next Meeting will be held: Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at 7:00 pm, City Hall