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Historian plans tour of furniture magnate Kroehler's influence in Naperville

A Naperville historian is set to lead a free walking tour Sunday to share the story of a man whose former home is soon to be the subject of demolition talks.

Historian Bryan Ogg said he wants to reintroduce furniture magnate Peter Kroehler to Naperville, where the late businessman joined the staff of a furniture company and made it his own.

"Kroehler had an international presence," Ogg said. "Not only did he employ thousands of Napervillians in Naperville, but he employed a great number of people in other communities as well."

The tour comes as a Wright Street house often called the Kroehler mansion, where Kroehler lived for roughly 18 months ending in 1910, has an uncertain future.

The mansion's owner, the nonprofit organization Little Friends, wants permission to demolish it and the other structures on the property in order to sell the land. Little Friends leaders say selling the land vacant is the only way the organization can get the highest value and use the money to move its school and service center for people with autism and other disabilities to a location more suited for modern education.

The city's historic preservation commission will consider the demolition request as it debates whether to grant a certificate of appropriateness during a meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, at the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St.

Before the discussion, Ogg said, he wants to highlight the influence Kroehler had on Naperville.

The Kroehler Manufacturing factory still stands, repurposed into the 5th Avenue Station apartments and offices near the Naperville Metra station. The YMCA on Washington Street bears the Kroehler name. But Ogg said many in town don't know how to pronounce it. (It's KRAY-ler.)

So starting at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Old Main building at 30 N. Brainard St. on the campus of North Central College (Kroehler's alma mater), Ogg will lead a roughly 90-minute walking tour called "The Kroehler Legacy."

He plans to detail the life of Peter Edward Kroehler, a Minnesota native who became a two-time mayor of Naperville, one of the founders of the YMCA that now carries his name and the first president of the National Association of Furniture Manufacturers. Ogg said he will share historical details as he leads a walk from the campus to downtown Naperville, the former Kroehler Manufacturing plant and finally to the Kroehler mansion.

"Yeah, he didn't live there that long," Ogg said about the craftsman-style house built in 1907, which was the long-term residence of Kroehler's ex-wife, Katherine. "But he still left a legacy."

Donations at the free walk will be accepted by the East Central Homeowners Association and will benefit the Naperville Historic District.

Ogg said he wants to see the Kroehler mansion preserved. Preservation, he said, is important because it allows for education on what makes a city unique.

"We have to be able to tell a story," Ogg said. "If everything's gone, then there's not even going to be something to tell a story about."

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Naperville historian Bryan Ogg is set to lead a free walking tour about the influence of furniture businessman Peter Kroehler starting at 1 p.m. Sunday at North Central College's Old Main building, 30 N. Brainard St., Naperville. Courtesy of Bryan Ogg
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