Interest grows in Schaumburg restoration grant
Schaumburg has only five years left to maximize the public benefits of a tax-increment finance district to improve its historic center.
And many property owners in the Olde Schaumburg Centre district near the intersection of Schaumburg and Roselle roads aren't waiting until the bitter end.
More and more are taking advantage of a grant using TIF funds to share the cost of the historic restoration of their buildings with the village.
Tuesday night, the owners of the Fenz House coach house at 14 E. Schaumburg Road and the Panzer House at 133 E. Schaumburg Road received a combined total of more than $80,000 for their respective restorations.
The Panzer House alone received $27,986 to split the cost of the exterior restoration part of the work currently going on around it. Restoration of the historic home is occurring in conjunction with a plan to build 15 new row houses on another part of its property.
To facilitate that, the Panzer House has been temporarily moved off its foundation. When it's moved back, either this week or next, it will be rotated 90 degrees so that its best side will face Schaumburg Road, project manager Norman Hassinger said.
The TIF district that will expire on its 23rd anniversary has helped create the commercial and cultural development of Town Square.
The grant, created in 2003 to help restore the roof and steeple of St. Peter Lutheran Church's chapel at 208 E. Schaumburg Road, has also led to the improvement of historic structures near the intersection.
"I think the character of the Olde Town Centre has been taking shape over the past few years," Hassinger said.
Craig Patel, owner of the Fenz House, previously received funding for its restoration and Tuesday received $53,194.50 for the neighboring coach house.
Earlier this year, the Easy Street Pub at 17 S. Roselle Road received $13,093.50 and the historic buttery building at 105 S. Roselle Road received $58,000.
Improvements will include new utilities, but the grant covers only restoration of the exterior to its appearance of about a century ago.