Historic Preservation Commission calls for Rockford to hold off on Elks Club demo
Owners say they’re confident auction will lead to a viable developer
By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The city’s Historic Preservation Commission is urging aldermen to pause any consideration of demolishing the historic Elks Lodge No. 64 until an outside analysis of the building can be conducted.
The commission’s recommendation would allow for an expert in preservation architecture to evaluate the building this week and weigh in on its condition and potential for redevelopment.
The recommendation comes as the city is seeking bids to raze the 113-year-old property at 210 W. Jefferson St. in downtown. Meanwhile, the owner is asking for enough time to conduct a nationwide online auction for the building next month.
“I think the building deserves one more shot, or at least one more ownership shot,” Jennifer Spencer, chairwoman of the commission and principal of the architectural firm Studio GWA, said during the meeting. “I don’t think the building is gone. Our firm has worked on many other projects that are in worse condition. I do think it’s worth saving and I do think it’s worth one last shot.”
The commission’s recommendation came after about an hour and 45 minutes of discussion that included a history of the building, a look at its current condition, a recap of the seven years long legal battle to force repairs, and the exploration of the avenues the city could take to see the building redeveloped.
The commission’s recommendation ultimately represents a first small step toward keeping the possibility of redevelopment alive.
Landmarks Illinois, a nonprofit historic preservation group that placed the building on its list of the most endangered historic places in the state in 2022, organized for Mary Brush of Chicago-based Brush Architects to conduct a pro bono assessment of the property this week. The commission recommended the city wait to learn Brush’s analysis before it makes any decisions.
“It’s as if the building has cancer, do we want a second medical opinion? I think yes,” said Alderman Mark Bonne, a member of the commission. “Any reasonably sane person would want the second opinion.”
‘Better than a castle’
Landmarks Illinois told the commission in a letter that it has monitored failed attempts to redevelop the property.
“We believe that the building has exceptional reuse potential and that its current condition does not warrant consideration of demolition,” Quinn Adamowski, regional advocacy manager of Landmarks Illinois, wrote to the group.
The building’s owner Mark McInnis of Argyll Properties said that despite issues with the roof and crumbling portions of the facade, the building is structurally safe.
“I’m not a structural engineer, but I’ll tell you what this thing is made better than a castle,” McInnis said. “Not only is it masonry through and through, but it also has a steel structure.”
McInnis and his wife, Jennifer, described themselves as historic advocates who had the will and the know how to redevelop the property, but ultimately not the resources.
“I gave it my best shot. I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” he said. “I’m sorry to the city of Rockford and everyone here. I gave it my best.”
He pushed back against charges that he was a negligent property owner, saying he took on all the prescriptive fixes required to make it safe. He said he did not replace the roof or do masonry tuck-pointing on the advice of his historic building consultant, who said it could jeopardize historic tax credits that are key to financing any redevelopment.
“We’ve been patching this building for the last several years, patching the roof, fixing windows, doing everything we’ve been asked to do,” McInnis said.
He said he’s spent about $150,000 on the property, and paid off a $36,000 lien the city had put on the building over previous code violations. He said he had met with multiple restaurant owners and other potential operators and investors, including a pitch to NBA star Fred VanVleet, as he tried to make the project work.
“It’s not about me. It’s about saving the building. I’ve given blood and treasure to make this building work,” he said. “I invested money into this building instead of putting it into my house in Haight Village because I believe that this building needs to be saved.”
Legal issues
The city says the building is a potential public safety issue due to years of neglect, and demolition is a necessary last resort after the owner couldn’t redevelop the property.
Rockford took McInnis to court in December 2018 to try to force repairs or demolition. It then prevailed in a bench trial, and Judge Donna Honzel ordered the owner to fix or raze the property by Jan. 3, 2022. That order gave the city authorization to demolish the building if the owner didn’t make repairs or raze the structure.
“Since 2022, rather than act on that order that we are authorized to act on, the city has continued the case in hopes that the property owners make the necessary repairs,” said Erin Hannigan, city attorney. “Unfortunately, over the last several years there has been little to no compliance. There are at least seven separate orders of the court since 2022 that have not been complied with.”
The city showed several images of the interior of the building depicting issues with asbestos, holes in the roof and flooring and water damage.
“The fact that the property has been in the hands of an irresponsible owner has made a beautiful gem in Rockford become a very, very deteriorated building,” said Nelson Sjostrom, construction and development services manager
McInnis said that while he was not proud of the condition the building is in, he sees the same potential in it as other historic reuse buildings in the city.
“I’m very heartbroken that I have some problems like that in this building, but you can look at some pictures of Barber-Colman, you can look at pictures of the Chick Hotel, you can look at pictures of, probably, the Trekk building,” McInnis said.
Online auction
McInnis said he last put the property on the market in 2019, but after the coronavirus pandemic took hold a few months later it sat for two years without any interest.
He’s now turned to a national commercial real estate marketplace called Crexi to try to sell the building. The property is listed on Crexi now, and an online auction is slated to take place Sept. 15-17.
The listing calls it a “rare opportunity for visionary investors.” The club, which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright contemporary Lawrence Buck and built in 1912, features Prairie and Greek Revival architectural styles.
“The highlight is the grand ballroom on the third level — a charming space with a 23′ arched plaster ceiling, maple floors, space for 600 tabled guests, and 700 to 1,000 for live concerts/shows,” the listing reads. “The main level features a lobby and fine dining area, while the lower level offers space for a pub, bowling alley, and more.”
McInnis said the site allows him to see information about certain potential buyers, including real estate assets under management. What he sees so far is potential from viable developers.
“There are people with $300 million in assets, $30 million in funds. That’s one example. There’s several of them that are in the hundreds of millions … and they’re coast to coast,” McInnis said in an interview after the meeting. “There’s people in Florida, there’s people in California, there’s people in New York, people in Texas, they’re all over. It’s a very viable bid.”
Some commission members and residents raised concerns that a sale could put the city back where it started with the property.
“If it goes to auction and the auction’s successful, then who knows what comes next,” said Brad Benedict, a Realtor and commission member. “We may begin another cycle of multiple years before anything happens.”
Forfeit the building
Valerie Olafson, a preservation consultant and member of the commission, said that if the owner is truly concerned about the building he should turn it over to the city.
That’s considered preferable to the potential path where the city spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to demolish the structure, and then places liens on the empty land in hopes that it can recoup the cost. Those costs, city officials have said, would likely not be paid and the city would then foreclose on the property and take ownership.
“If your primary concern is to save the building, then you should forfeit the building because it’s obvious that you are not caring for that piece of property,” Olafson said.
She said the building was in good shape before it was purchased by Argyll Properties in 2011. The company paid $15,000 for the building, according to records from the Winnebago County Clerk & Recorder.
“We went through every single inch of that building and it was in excellent shape,” she said. “It had wear and tear, but it was completely feasible to save it at that moment. Now you’ve owned it for 15 years and there’s been a series of deterioration.”
McInnis said he would not forfeit the property because he needs to recoup the money he’s invested into it. He said he offered selling it to the city for $335,000, an amount he said was based on an appraisal, but the administration wasn’t interested.
Gary Carlson, a historic preservation advocate who lives in a home that was also designed by Buck, said the city buying the property could be preferable to an auction or demolition.
“We could be going from the frying pan into the fire depending on who buys it that way,” Carlson said of the auction. “Rather than spending $500,000 and demolishing the building, if we gave (the owners) a little bit of something to compensate them for whatever (work) they did, that’s better than just demolishing the building and leaving us with a piece of property that doesn’t bring any benefit to the city at all.”
What’s next
The city initially expected to open bids for the demolition on Thursday, but that timeline is going to be extended by a few days, said Sarah Leys, the city’s director of community and economic development.
That extension will also delay any proposal that would go before the City Council. If bids are opened early next week, it could go to committees on Aug. 25 and the full council on Sept. 2, just about two weeks before the auction.
“We need to protect this building. It’s not endangering anyone. It’s not going to implode. It’s not going to collapse,” McInnis said. “We need to protect it and let it go to auction. Let somebody else pick up the gauntlet and run with it. It’s not about me, it’s about saving this building. … It’s the last of the great gems that we have left standing in this city.”
Bonne asked McInnis if he would consider forfeiting the property to the city if the online auction failed. McInnis said he would consider that, but first wanted to see how the auction plays out.
This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas
