Old Blacksmith Shop In Geneva Will Keep Landmark Designation

GENEVA, IL — An old blacksmith shop in Geneva will maintain its landmark designation after a unanimous vote from the Geneva Historic Preservation Commission.

The Alexander Brothers' Blacksmith Shop faced being torn down after the Shodeen Family Foundation, which owns the building, cited "economic hardship" as the basis for its request for demolition.

The circa 1843 limestone structure, standing at 4 E. State St., is known to many as the former Mill Race Inn Restaurant, which was open from 1933 to 2011.

The application said the shop could not be economically renovated and put into service. The finding was based on a proposed development scenario to repurpose the structure as a single-occupant management office for the foundation, documents show.

"It doesn't have to be a stand-alone office," Commissioner Kevin Philips said Tuesday at the Historic Preservation Commission. "It could be any kind of structure, but it is restorable with the same materials that it's constructed with now."

It would cost $1,000 per square foot to redevelop the 30-by-48-square-foot structure, according to reports from Shaw Local.

"Nobody — no sane person — would pay to build that for $1,000 a square foot," said David Patzelt, a representative for the Shodeen Family Foundation, per Shaw Local. "I don't think there is a building in Kane County that is $1,000 per square foot. It's cost prohibitive."

Commissioners met Tuesday night and, after about 45 minutes of deliberation, voted, with no one absent, to deny potential demolition of the historic landmark and de-designation of the property. In order for it to be knocked out, the property would have to revert to having no historic designation, officials said.

"Based on the information in the testimonies provided," Commissioner Jewel Jensen said after voting to deny the motion, "I'm not convinced that the applicant has proven it to be a financial or economic hardship. ... I'm not convinced the applicant has explored all other redevelopment options or investigated alternative funding sources."

Commissioner George Salomon had a different reason for voting in favor of denying the application.

"They have been focused on tearing this building down, and to hell with everything else," he said. "I feel that they were very disingenuous to their initial discussions where they said that they would preserve this structure, and as such, once again, I vote to deny their request."

The Historic Preservation Commission held near-monthly public hearings beginning in January until July regarding the potential demolition.

"We need to take into account all of the community's comments; that's part of our responsibility, and a large percentage of the comments that came in were advocating for the preservation of the 1840 blacksmith shop," Jensen said. "We had an outpour of expert testimonies that supported the reason why that blacksmith shop should stay."

The property was identified in 2008 as one of the 63 in Geneva that should be landmarked and protected, as it played an "important role in illustrating how Genevans have lived throughout the years," according to city documents. In 2018, City Council approved its landmark designation and three years later reduced it to just the limestone structure rather than the entire 1.4-acre plot of land it sits on.