Owners want to save cottages

Dorothy Capen's century-old cottage overlooking idyllic Memory Park has its own memories.

Capen speaks for it as she's perched on her white wicker chair on her screen porch in the center of the Des Plaines Methodist Campground. The campground is near the Des Plaines River -- responsible for its beauty and its bane.

Flood upon flood has ravaged her cottage -- along with the 120 other white cottages with green trim -- over the years. Capen, 81, spent many girlhood summers at the camp, and wants others to have the same memories.

"I would hate to see them not be able to come back," Capen said. "There's a mystique. ... It isn't just a cottage. It's a way of life that you buy into."

She is one of many residents hoping to save the cottages, which are mostly summer residences, by participating in a project to raise them 2 to 5 feet.

That project, however, may have hit a snag -- ironically caused by the same flood issues that threaten the survival of the cottages.

The campground is seeking $500,000 in federal grant money to raise at least an initial 15 cottages at the Civil War-era camp, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, said Ray Hund, buildings and grounds manager.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials said "structures may only be elevated if they are not located within a regulatory floodway." The preliminary opinion came as a shock.

Campground officials have presented a written appeal, hoping to reverse the initial opinion. Final word could come as early as next week.

FEMA officials couldn't be reached for comment on the issue Thursday.

"The campground's understanding is that the grant money hasn't been denied," Hund said. "FEMA is still discussing it. So, we're keeping the faith right now."

Since 1979, owners of the campground cottages have received $648,000 in flood insurance claims. In its written appeal, the campground in one of its arguments said the decision would leave "no viable grant-funded mitigation alternative for many insurable flood-prone buildings, especially historical properties where acquisition is not an option."

In 1865, the Des Plaines campground began hosting Methodist meetings. After the Revolutionary War, Methodists wanted to worship outdoors rather than meeting in a more reserved setting in an effort to rebel against British culture. The land is still owned by the Methodists.

The last major flood was three years ago. For the campground homes to last, Hund has said they must be elevated.

Des Plaines Mayor Tony Arredia, who is working with the campground to create a river walk, plans to meet with FEMA representatives to push the campground's case.

"We'll work it out," Arredia said. "I learned a long time ago to not get excited the first time someone says, 'no.'"

That's good news for campground residents like 44-year-old Bonnie Shumate and for her 1909 cottage. She is one of the 15 owners who agreed to have their cottages raised.

"I'd rather have the water going under me than inside," Shumate said. "Then we can preserve them for generations and generations."