Last minute offer could save St. Charles’ historic Barry House
A historic St. Charles home remains safe from demolition for at least 60 days after city council members tabled the owners’ request this week.
On Monday, St. Charles City Council members were expected to consider a request to raze the 181-year-old Barry House.
However, the council postponed the discussion to give the church that owns the house time to review an offer to sell it, which was received on May 16.
Mayor Clint Hull introduced the topic and explained the situation before asking for a motion to table the vote. He verified that Baker Memorial United Methodist Church has received an offer to sell the Barry House and offers to potentially relocate it.
“What has become very evident over the last couple weeks is how important this issue is to so many in our community,” Hull said.
Judge William D. Barry owned the house in the mid-1800s. Baker Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Charles has owned the home since 1993 and has been seeking permission to demolish it since 2017.
Because the house is in a historic district, the church needs to obtain a certificate of appropriateness from St. Charles before the building can be demolished.
The home recently made the list of the 2025 Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois because its owners are pushing for demolition.
After years of being denied permission to demolish the building, the church received its first positive recommendation at last week’s planning and development committee meeting.
Hull said that since last week’s recommendation, the church, city staff and residents trying to save the home have all been communicating, trying to find a way to preserve the Barry House while addressing the church’s needs.
Baker United Pastor David Aslesen said the church’s committees will review the legitimacy of the offer received.
Aslesen said while the church reviews the offer on the table, it will gladly continue receiving and considering additional offers for purchase and relocation.
Hull said the church’s main concern is that if they agree to sell the Barry House, the city will work with them to create additional parking. He said one option under consideration is changing the parking spaces on Third Street from parallel to diagonal to create more spaces.
“The bottom line is that there’s still a lot of work to be done,” Hull said. “It’s going to take time for the parties to work through all the information that has just been presented.”
Council members postponed the discussion to the July 21 city council meeting in a unanimous vote.