Owners wrestle with upkeep costs of historic buildings

MERRILVILLE, Ind. (AP) - When Marti Wheeler took the helm of the Lake County Courthouse Foundation, her very first year was spent preventing the iconic structure's bell tower from exploding.

Extensive-but-undetected water damage was found in one of its walls during a routine inspection of Lake County's most iconic structure. If the foundation did nothing, the consequences, in nebulous order of importance, would've been dire to both the structure itself and to the public.

Wheeler called an emergency meeting of the foundation board, which voted to fix the damage. It took every penny of the $100,000 the foundation had stockpiled in its account, but had the board not acted, the outcome could've been much worse.

"If it went, the bricks would've ended up in the street," Wheeler told the Post-Tribune (http://trib.in/1APlu1f). "I was terrified."

With the backing of an engaged foundation and later the help of businessman and philanthropist Dean White, the courthouse should be set in terms of emergency repairs both big and small for a while. But like Munster's Old Town Hall building, from which a fairly large chunk of brick fell from its upper wall Feb. 27, many of the area's historic buildings are at risk of falling into disrepair or worse.

Even with a vibrant historical society or foundation, the challenge of preservation can be daunting. Kathy Peters, treasurer for the Dyer Historical Society, has seen her share of the town's historic homes be torn down. And it breaks her heart every time.

"We just had a house built in the 1860s - the Batterman House at 2121 Hart Street - that someone bought and razed it for a parking lot," Peters said. "We're sick about it."

As was the contractor who did the demolition. He lamented the house's demise to Peters.

"He was shocked that the owner was doing it. A lover of old buildings himself, he left us some of the bricks from it," she said.

Even if societies or foundations have the money to preserve the buildings - an expensive endeavor in its own right - the next question becomes whether the town has land on which to accommodate the structure. Sometimes the owner sees the value in keeping the building but doesn't want the building on it, so if the foundation can move it, it's theirs.

But even if there's land available, the money may still not be.

"It's a real problem. We've had several buildings torn down because of money," Peters said.

For those buildings unlucky enough to not have a benefactor such as White or a foundation behind them, the onus falls on the building's owner. Code enforcement doesn't discriminate as to whether a building is historic or not, according to Brian Poland, planning director for the City of Hammond.

"Theoretically, if a feature is falling off a building, it's likely water damage. Unless you're going up there regularly, though, you wouldn't necessarily know," Poland said. "It is the responsibility of the owner."

George Rogge undertook the responsibility when he bought the Boyd House at 1500 E. 73rd Ave. in Merrillville. He'd always wanted a little farm, so when the original owners' family put it up for sale, he jumped at the chance.

He's been lucky, he said, because the house, built in 1876 with brick three-feet deep, has had no outside repairs. The inside, however, was a whole different mess.

"Everything had to be updated: the electric, heating and cooling - well, cooling had to be completely added," Rogge said. "But if anything was going to move and settle, it would've had to have happened in 1876."

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Information from: Post-Tribune, http://posttrib.chicagotribune.com/