Wheaton council votes 5-2 to allow paint on old building facade
An old building on Main Street in downtown Wheaton will soon have a new facade, after the city council voted 5-2 Monday to allow for the exterior bricks to be painted.
Earlier this year, the owners of 111-113 N. Main Street asked the city for permission to cover the bricks on the front their building with white and black paint.
"They wanted a fresh start, they wanted a fresh look," said owner representative Randy Jostes, who is also serving as architect and project manager for the building's renovations. "We did try extensively to see if we could clean this brick and all I can tell you is you have no brick like this in downtown Wheaton."
The building was previously owned by the city and sat vacant for roughly two decades before being purchased late last year by the owners of Luong-Loi, a long-running Vietnamese restaurant that is relocating from its original location on 110 N. Main St.
The city's Downtown Design Review Board reviewed the request and denied it because it was not in full compliance with the city's downtown design review guidelines, which says brick facades of older buildings should be left unpainted.
The owners appealed the review board's decision, which resulted in the issue being brought to the city council Monday.
City staff recommended that the city council still deny the request, as they felt the facade "shows no signs of deterioration or damage that would be corrected or stabilized by painting" and Jostes' "contention" that the brick facade cannot be cleaned was "simply untrue."
Nancy Flannery, chairwoman of the city's historic commission, was the only resident to speak out against the appeal at Monday's meeting. She said the commission agreed with the downtown design board and felt strongly that the appeal should be denied.
Mayor Michael Gresk and Councilman John Prendiville voted no to the appeal because they felt the council should value the opinions of the Downtown Design Review Board and city staff.
"They know more about it than I do and they have a role to play in trying to tie together our downtown and provide some consistency," Prendiville said.
Councilman Phil Suess said he supported the paint and added that perhaps the city should revisit the purpose of the downtown design review board because the "hoops" the owners have had to jump through were "a little bit on the absurd side."
"They're solving a problem for us," he said. "We ought to be saying, 'Thank you and go for it.'"