Historic Commission

Tuesday, August 17, 2021 I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 7:08 pm. Present in person: Nancy Flannery (Chair), Lisa Buchanan, Linda Moran, Bob Purdy, Joe Szczepaniak Present virtual: Steph McGrath (Secretary), Emelie Engling Absent: Diane Burant Public Comments: none II. Approval of Minutes Minutes of the July 20, 2021 meeting approved on a motion by Joe, seconded by Bob, and passed unanimously. III. Old Business A. New Commissioner: Joe Szczepaniak has been officially appointed. B. GIS Project: Lisa reviewed the updated mapping project. Dates from the Milton Township database are in a separate column. Need to see if all houses have been checked for date plaques, then research any lacking dates, or just only from the Milton Township database. A similar project could be a map of Wheaton cemetery plots with names of the interred. C. Historic Site Markers: The Down at the Depot marker has been installed outside on the east side of the downtown Metra station. Need to compile a new list of potential markers. Commissioners should bring ideas and old lists to next month’s meeting. D. Landmark Plaque Vendor: Bob will check into potential vendors. E. Wheaton Register application: Steph reviewed her assessment of the application for 831 N. Washington and subsequent research consultation with the owners. They have been given guidance on how to best use the available resources to find the date the house was moved to its current location. IV. New Business A. Commissioner resignation: Lori Bilske has resigned; she was Vice Chair. B. Election of Vice Chair: Linda nominated Joe to be Vice Chair, Bob seconded and it passed unanimously. C. Wheaton City Seal: A question was asked about the city seal. The DuPage County Historical Museum archives has Wheaton materials that may help answer the query. D. Wheaton Register application: The application for 115 W. Oak was reviewed. It lacked any proof of the built date. In their research consultation several sources to check were suggested, e.g. the city building file, historic tax records and/or newspaper articles. E. Wheaton Historic Preservation Council: WHPC is currently selling Wheaton yearbooks on Facebook and the Baker Costume Collection was sent to auction. Steph reviewed proper and legal museum collections management procedures. Many residents are concerned about the disposition of the Center for History collection. V. Commissioner Comments Emelie: The Wheaton Public Library just held another successful book sale. Bob: Asked about Keith Call from the Wheaton College Archives and will be contacting him for local history information. VI. Adjournment Joe moved to adjourn, Bob seconded, the motion passed unanimously; the meeting concluded at 8:33 pm.