Warning that the downtown historic district is rapidly disappearing, members of the Algonquin Historic Commission are urging officials to enact an ordinance to protect structures that are significant to the village’s past.
Commission Chairman Jeff Jolitz presented the Village Board, sitting as a committee of the whole, with results of a 3 1/2-year survey of historic structures and sites throughout the village. Since the survey began in 1994, he said, seven pre-1900 buildings have been torn down.
“This is dire. Algonquin is under siege,” Jolitz said, adding that a proposed highway to relieve congestion at Illinois Highways 31 and 62, along with the addition of a right turn lane there, would destroy several other historic structures.
Jolitz said his committee is reviewing historical preservation ordinances from other communities and will have a suggested framework for the village to consider within the next two weeks.
Citing Galena as an example, Jolitz said that tourism and property values rose significantly after such an ordinance was enacted.
“It gives people an incentive to make improvements and restorations to their homes, knowing that the village is going to back them up,” Jolitz said.
