Submitted By
Tammie Grossman, Development Customer Services Director
Reviewed By
LKS
Agenda Item Title
Title
Concur with the Historic Preservation Commission and Adopt an Ordinance Amending Chapter 7 (“Building Regulations”), Article 9 (“Historic Preservation”), Section 7-9-8 (“Designation of Historic Landmarks and Interior Histroic Landmarks”) of the Oak Park Village Code to Designate the Exterior of ths House Located at 209 Forest Avenue as an Historic Landmark
End
Overview
Overview
On August 30, 2016 the Historic Preservation Commission received a request from the property owners to designate their property at 209 Forest as an Oak Park Historic Landmark. The Historic Preservation Ordinance, adopted by the Village Board in 1994, enables the Historic Preservation Commission to recommend, and the Village Board to adopt by ordinance, local landmarks within the Village. The property must meet one or more of 8 criteria for designation as listed in the ordinance.
Body
Staff Recommendation
Village staff recommends acceptance of the Historic Preservation Commission findings and recommendations by Resolution and approval of an ordinance designating 209 Forest Avenue as an Oak Park Historic Landmark.
Fiscal Impact
The amount of $250 (account #1001-46200-332-530662) has been budgeted for this item through the Historic Preservation Commission for a bronze plaque and is also the current amount requested.
Background
The ordinance calls for the Commission to hold a public hearing and then forward a recommendation in the form of a Resolution to the Village Board. Upon receipt of the Resolution and nomination report, the Village Board has 30 days in which to designate or reject the nomination by simple majority. Upon approval, the Board shall enact an ordinance designating the landmark.
The Historic Preservation Commission conducted a preliminary determination of eligibility on the completed nomination report on April 13 which determined that the property met three of the criteria for designation contained in the Historic Preservation Ordinance. The Commission held a public hearing on May 11, 2017. Legal Notice of the Public Hearing was published in the Wednesday Journal on April 26, 2017, and hearing notices were mailed to Village property owners within 250 feet of the site. The Commission approved the nomination as the Findings of Fact and recommended approval of the property as an Oak Park Historic Landmark by the attached Resolution on May 11, 2017 as is mandated in the Historic Preservation Ordinance.
The property at 209 Forest Avenue is known as the James T. Hayden House. The two-story frame house was constructed in 1893 and is an excellent example of the Queen Anne style of architecture. The design is asymmetrical in nature, with multiple materials including stone, brick and wood shingles. The design includes a variety of wall surfaces and features such as bays windows, inset balcony, and large roof gables that overhang the cutaway bay windows. A tall corner tower with turret sits at the northeast corner of the façade. The roof has a central hip with cross gables. Combined together these elements form an exuberant and high-style example of the Queen Anne style not typically found in Oak Park.
William K. Johnston is a Chicago architect who was originally from Canada. His father was a builder, and he was raised as a builder rather than trained as an architect. He is thought to have designed two other houses in Oak Park, one demolished, and the other a humbler Craftsman bungalow. Johnston is not a well-known architect, but those buildings that he is known for are well-designed, high-style masonry and frame buildings mainly in the Victorian styles such as Queen Anne, Richardsonian Romanesque, and Gothic Revival. The Hayden House is the only high-style house in Oak Park by Johnston, and his work at Hope College in Michigan and elsewhere marks him as an excellent and experienced builder and designer.
James T. Hayden was a prominent citizen of Oak Park who was a machinist and inventor who worked for the Crane Company in Chicago and filed numerous mechanical patents during his lifetime. He was born in Massachusetts in 1842, served for four years in the Ohio 31st Volunteers in the Civil War, and married Helen Angle, also of Massachusetts. The couple had four children, three who lived to adulthood.
The property is significant for its Queen Anne architecture and for its association with owner James T. Hayden and architect William K. Johnston. The property meets the following criteria under section 7-9-5 of the Historic Preservation Ordinance “Criteria for Designation of Historic Landmarks and Interior Historic Landmarks”:
(3) Identification with a person or persons who significantly contributed to the architectural, cultural, economic, historic or social heritage, or other aspect, of the Village of Oak Park, the State of Illinois, or the United States;
(5) Embodiment of those distinguishing characteristics of a significant architectural type, or style, or engineering specimen;
(6) Identification as the work of a builder, designer, architect, craftsperson, engineer or landscape architect whose individual work is significant in the development of the Village of Oak Park, the State of Illinois, or the United States.
Alternatives
The alternative would be to take no action or deny the recommendation for Historic Landmark designation. This would save the Village $250 but would fail to provide long-term protection for what the Historic Preservation Commission considers to be an important historic resource within the Village.
Previous Board Action
N/A.
Citizen Advisory Commission Action
The Historic Preservation Commission approved the Historic Landmark Nomination Report as findings of fact and forwarded these findings and Resolution to the Board recommending approval of an ordinance designating 209 Forest Avenue as an Oak Park Historic Landmark.
Anticipated Future Actions/Commitments
N/A.
Intergovernmental Cooperation Opportunities
N/A.
Performance Management (MAP) Alignment
A Governance Priority established for the Planning Division of the Community and Economic Development Department is Long Range Planning - Historic Preservation Plan.