Geneva landmark request going straight to council
Geneva aldermen will not discuss the landmark application for the last bit of the Mill Race Inn at Monday's committee-of-the-whole meeting after all.
City spokesman Kevin Stahr said Thursday that it now will be considered on April 16 at the regular city council meeting.
He said the change came on the advice of the city's attorneys.
Normally, aldermen first discuss business at a committee-of-the-whole meeting and then take binding action at the next council meeting.
The Historic Preservation Commission has recommended designating the small limestone building at 4 E. State St. as a historic landmark.
Research by the city's historic preservation planner indicates it was built circa 1846 and was the second building on the site.
It housed a variety of industrial businesses, including wagon-painters and automobile businesses.
In 1933, the Mill Race Inn seasonal tea room opened in it.
Additions made throughout the 19th and 20th centuries enveloped the building, especially as the Mill Race Inn became a full-service restaurant that was open all year.
The restaurant closed in 2011, and all the other buildings and additions were razed in 2016.
The Shodeen Family Foundation now owns the land. Shodeen Inc. has not submitted plans for redevelopment. The city's Downtown/Station Area Master Plan envisions it being used for a mix of housing, restaurants and shops.
Shodeen opposed designating the building a landmark and has applied for a demolition permit.
If it were to become a landmark, Shodeen would have to get the preservation commission's permission to demolish it.
The nomination for the building, and Shodeen's objection to it, can be found in the preservation commission's March 20 meeting packet at geneva.il.us.