Historic home in Elgin deserves facelift

Shame on you for your inflammatory, half-truth headline regarding the Elgin City Council's vote to restore the oldest building in Elgin. The fact that the neighborhood cop is going to live in it is not the reason the council is spending a goodly amount of money to restore it.

According to Mike Alft in "Elgin An American History," "The oldest home in Elgin, still existing, is a cobblestone on the northwest corner of West Chicago and Crystal streets. It was erected by William C. and Samuel J. Kimball for their mother, Nancy Currier Kimball. All the floor beams are of oak from a forest which once grew in the area."

In addition Alft says, "the Elgin area has one of the largest concentrations of these buildings (cobblestones) outside of the region of their concentration."

It would be shameful for us not to restore this historic building, most of which will be paid for by grants, not taxpayer money. Thank you, city council, for doing the right thing.

Pat Hill

Elgin