One way or another, two local buildings will soon be history. The city’s Historic Sites Commission took a step
this week to save the Strawbridge-Shepherd and Margery Adams homes, located
at the University of Illinois at Springfield campus and Adams Wildlife
Sanctuary, respectively. Whether the commission’s action has any
effect remains to be seen. Save Old Springfield, a local preservation group,
filed applications with the commission’s registry committee to
designate the buildings historic landmarks. Both structures are “excellent candidates”
for landmark status, says Ed Russo, a commission member. As a result of the vote, the commission will send the
owners — UIS and the Audubon Society — certified letters
seeking their permission, which is needed within 30 days for the
landmarking process to begin. The owners are not under any legal obligation
to halt demolition plans that might be under way. The Audubon Society, at least, has said that it plans
to tear down the Adams house and erect a bigger building more suitable for
its educational and administrative needs when it moves its state
headquarters from Danville. The society gave a deadline of November, saying
that it would be willing to give the residence of the late Margery Adams to
anybody willing to move it from the sanctuary property. The university also plans to demolish the
Strawbridge-Shepherd farmhouse, citing a hazard to public safety. UIS in
August offered the 19th-century building to anybody willing to remove it
but received no bids. Jerry Jacobson of Save Old Springfield says that the
commission should consider asking the Springfield City Council to change an
ordinance enacted in 1996 that requires owner consent before a property may
be designated a historic landmark. He says that the current owner-approval
requirement “stymies full public debate on the historic-designation
process.”
However, several members of the historic commission
note that such a move would be contentious.
This article appears in Oct 6-12, 2005.
