What's new with Geneva history? House moving, possible new preservation district
Geneva's history will be on display early this year as the city considers a request for a new historic district, a historic house is moved and officials seek ideas for what to do at the former Mill Race Inn site.
New district
Several landowners want to form a new historic district for 20 properties. The South Geneva Historic District would include buildings on Elizabeth Place, Shady Avenue, Cheever Avenue, Easton Avenue, Hawthorne Lane and Peck Road.
According to the application, the owners of one property oppose the idea and another couldn't be reached, but the rest support the plan - including 5th Ward Alderman Robert Swanson, who owns one of the properties.
The application, which contains descriptions of each house including its ownership history, is available on the city's website under "Development Projects."
The last effort to designate the area as a historic district did not go well.
City staff in 2011 proposed a district that would have included as many as 86 properties. But landowners who did not want to be subject to special rules for their houses persuaded the city council to drop the plan.
The city has one historic district, formed by two national historic districts, that encompasses much of downtown. Properties in the district need approval from the Historic Preservation Commission for additions, exterior renovations and demolitions.
The creation of a southern district gained momentum after the demolition in 2004 of a 100-year-old limestone cottage on Shady Avenue. It was one of two matching houses built by Henry Bond Fargo, a former mayor and a co-founder of the Wells-Fargo company.
On the move
A historic house will be moving as soon as Jan. 15.
The Miller-Gully House, at 122 E. State St., already has been lifted off its foundation for the move to East Side Drive.
It is being bought by Adam and Heidi Gibbons. Adam Gibbons has written books on the history of Geneva and Wasco. He also restored another historic home, in which they live.
The house has been vacant for about 11 years and fell into disrepair. The Gibbonses bought it from a real estate development company for $2.
The house was built in 1839 and is one of the oldest remaining structures in Kane County, according to Gibbons. The original owner paid a man a cow (worth $17) and two bushels of wheat to build it, according to Gibbons.
The moving date is tentative, because the plan has yet to be approved by the state (State Street is a state highway).
Mill Race Inn
The city also is starting work on what to do with the former Mill Race Inn property at 4 E. State St., and an adjacent parcel on the southwest corner of State and Route 25, both owned by the Shodeen Family Foundation.
It wants to hire a consultant to lead a five-day planning effort, called a "charrette." The city and the Shodeen development company will split the cost.
The consultant would meet with residents to develop a plan. The city envisions mixed uses, including shops, housing and lodging, that would maximize the site's location on the Fox River.
Consultants are due to apply for the job by Jan. 23.
Most of the Mill Race Inn restaurant complex was razed in 2016. But the oldest building on the site, a limestone manufactory dating to the 1840s, remains. The city council made it a landmark in 2018, over the owner's objection. The owner wanted to demolish it, but now needs approval from the Historic Preservation Commission. The building is not in the historic district.