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Naperville trying to 'make everyone happy' with Little Friends land

Little Friends has permission to tear down all of the buildings on its Wright Street campus east of downtown Naperville.

But everyone who wants the Kroehler mansion to be saved now has a commitment from the city council to explore ways preservation and restoration still could be possible.

A solution that preserves the mansion, satisfies neighbors in the historic district and lets Little Friends - a nonprofit organization helping people with autism and developmental disabilities - make enough money selling the land to move to a better site would be the "win-win-win" that city council member Paul Hinterlong said he has been working toward since this summer.

The problem that led city council members to approve demolition of the mansion: The only offer Little Friends has received that would allow the mansion to stay put is $1 million to $1.5 million less than the property's $5.5 million appraised value.

So even though council members voted 6-2 to allow the mansion to be razed, they also asked city staff members to work on options that could help Little Friends afford to sell its nearly 4-acre property to the mansion-preservation bidder.

Council members discussed potentially waiving some fees, granting money from the Special Events and Cultural Amenities fund or using other incentives to help bridge the gap.

Hinterlong said that in working with Little Friends President and CEO Mike Briggs, he thinks the "win-win-win" is possible. He and city council member Patrick Kelly voted against allowing the mansion to be leveled, saying they want to ensure preservation occurs.

"It's $1 million. Really Naperville? We can't make this work? We can't fund this gap to make everyone happy? I think we're selling ourselves short," Hinterlong said. "We can do this. Let's do this together and work on it."

The building referred to as the Kroehler mansion was built in 1907 and 1908 and became the home of furniture industrialist and two-term Mayor Peter Edward Kroehler. The businessman moved out in 1910 when he and his wife divorced.

The home later was owned by North Central College. For the past 44 years, it has been occupied by Little Friends.

The college leased the building to the nonprofit disability services agency in 1975, then the city helped Little Friends secure federal grant money to eventually buy it.

It's that kind of civic cooperation several speakers and city council members said they want to tap into again to help Little Friends provide a better educational environment for its students with autism and other disabilities, while also maintaining the mansion as a visual link to Kroehler.

That's why - as Little Friends is seeking donations through a button on the homepage of its website - Naperville officials also will investigate whether any city funding can help.

Some aren't willing to go there.

"I reject the idea of using city money to solve this problem," council member Theresa Sullivan said.

But Grant Wehrli, a former city council member now serving as 41st District state representative, said Naperville's history is full of moments when neighbors worked together to solve problems, and he'd like to see that happen again to benefit Little Friends.

"Their success means more to this entire community of 150,000 than any building ever could," Wehrli said.

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