What to do with historic former Lutheran church? Pingree Grove debates
The village of Pingree Grove is trying to figure out what to do with the former St. Peter's Lutheran Church, which it has owned since the historic building was donated nearly two years ago.
The building, kept locked, is available for public use, but there's been “very, very limited interest,” Village Manager Dean Frieders said. Village officials want to figure out the best use for it, which will determine whether the village should own, lease, license or sell it, he said.
“We want to ensure whatever use comes out of the building is what benefits the community, as a whole, the most,” he said.
A tour and roundtable discussion was held last week at the building, 14N205 Reinking Road, and attended by 23 people, including eight staff members and village officials, Frieders said. Ideas included using the building as a coffee shop and nonprofit space for things like community meetings, religious gatherings and movie nights; others suggested commercial uses, but without much detail, he said.
Members of the congregation that donated the church, at a nominal $10, are worried about the fate of the building, resident Karel Jones said.
Jones, a trustee on the Pingree Grove & Countryside Fire Protection District, said the congregation made the difficult decision to close the church after attendance dropped to as low as five or six people on Sundays.
Jones said she was baptized at the church 63 years ago and is the last congregation member to live in town; the others live in nearby suburbs or downstate, but remain attached to the building, she said.
“We feel betrayed that they are even considering selling it,” Jones said. “If you look at a town like Geneva, they are embracing their old stuff.”
The congregation initially wanted the village to commit to owning the building in perpetuity, but the village board didn't like that idea, so the condition was dropped. The congregation nevertheless believed the village never would sell the building, based on feedback from a historic preservation expert in Kane County, Jones said. Built in 1910, the building is on the county's Register of Historic Places.
The building has a main level and basement, each about 1,700 square feet. It is in good structural condition but will require work to make it compliant with village building code and the Americans with Disabilities Act, Frieders said. It will also need heating and air conditioning work and eventually roof and exterior repairs, he said.
The village in May 2018 issued a request for proposals, particularly adaptive reuse and not demolition. Frieders said the only formal respondent was City of Joy Church, a church that meets at Cambridge Lakes Charter School. City of Joy proposed using the building not for services — apparently it's too small — but for “other uses,” Frieders said. However, there wasn't consensus from the board to move forward.
Jones said she endorses the idea of creating a “friends of the building” kind of nonprofit that would help the building become self-sustaining through usage fees and donations. “All this time has passed and the church sits empty,” she said. “A lot of people in town don't even know that building exists and it belongs to the people.”