North Cook News

City of Elgin Heritage Commission met Feb. 4

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

A. The meeting of the Elgin Heritage Commission was called to order at 6:01 p.m. in the City Council Chambers by Chairman John Marston.

1. Members Present: Rebecca Hunter, Tonya Luchetti, Allison Peterson, Christina Pila, John Regan, Marge Rowe, Dennis Roxworthy, Gina Tunar and John Marston.

2. Members Absent: None

3. City Staff Present: Christen Sundquist, Historic Preservation Planner

B. Approval of Minutes:

1. A motion was made by Commissioner Hunter to approve the January 7, 2025 minutes with the following amendments: E5 “Rich Castle” to “Charles Cassell.”

The motion was seconded by Commissioner Roxworthy.

The motion passed 5-0-4 (Peterson, Pila, Regan, Tunar abstained).

C. Recognize Persons Present: None

D. Plaque applications:

1. 302 W. Chicago Street: The plaque nomination received the following average scores: Historic Significance 10.00; Architectural Significance: 10.00; Current Maintenance: 10.00.

A motion was made by Commissioner Pila to approve awarding the plaque for the property with the inscription that would read N. (Nancy) Kimball, 1846.

The motion was seconded by Commissioner Luchetti.

The motion passed 5-0-4 (Hunter, Rowe, Roxworthy, Marston abstained).

E. Old Business

1. Reports from Neighborhood Groups on Heritage Related Activities

a. Commissioner Rowe noted the following:

i. Elgin History Museum had several programs since the last meeting including an art exhibit “Capturing the Moment: Nick Freeman Artist Open House” at the Cobblestone. This exhibit will have a couple more showings on February 9th and March 2nd. The Annual Volunteer Appreciation Lunch will be held on February 15th and on February 23rd there will be a lecture presented by Caroline Kisiel: Did Black Lives Matter in Early Illinois from the Brink of Slavery and Freedom.

ii. Commissioner Rowe also noted that the Friends of Lords Park Zoo is now putting together their program for the summer. They are expected to open on May 31st.

b. Chairman Marston noted that he will be the co-chair for the Historic House Tour this year and that the committee is looking at the west side for the tour area.

2. 2024 Elgin Heritage Commission Goals

a. Historic Resources Survey

Staff gave an overview of the NAPC webinar on historic resources surveys and showed the commission the progress in the executive summary that will be presented to them next meeting.

b. Bungalow Website

No update

3. Design Review Subcommittee

Commissioner Hunter noted that there were several projects that were reviewed at the last Design Review meeting including rear porches, chicken coop and a heritage marker for the Planetarium.

4. 2024 Marketing and Outreach Plan

a. Educational Videos

Commissioner Luchetti organized a date and time for the filming of the next video with Commissioner Hunter and Commissioner Pila. She noted that we likely won’t have time to get the third video done before the Mayor’s Awards but we will be able to show two of them. Chairman Marston asked Commissioner Peterson and Commissioner Tunar if they’d be willing to be a part of a future video series as well and they were agreeable.

b. Gail Borden Library – Proposed Event

Commissioner Hunter provided a list of proposed events, lectures, exhibits that could be held at the Gail Borden Public Library. She asked the commissioners to review and get back to her on what items interested them to assist with organizing.

5. 2025 Preservation Month

Staff stated that there wasn’t an update but reminded the commission to think about preservation led projects or organizations from the past three years that would qualify for a Mayor’s Award. Staff also asked the commission to reach out to their assigned groups to remind them to submit an application as well. Commission Pila will be looking into a digital check in for the event as the paper copy was cumbersome last year.

F. New Business

None.

G. Other Business

None.

H. Adjournment

A motion was made by Commissioner Regan to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Pila and passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7:11 p.m.

https://il-elgin4.civicplus.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/9191