A decision on the fate of the historic Elks Club in Rockford will wait another two weeks

City Council opts to provide time for potential sale and to explore other options

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — City Council members have delayed a decision on demolishing the historic Elks Lodge No. 64 to allow more time for the owner to sell the property and to vet other options to save the historic building.

Owner Mark McInnis of Argyle Properties said he has multiple potential buyers interested in the 113-year-old building at the corner of West Jefferson and North Wyman streets. He has been in negotiations with one for several weeks and had others recently express interest, he said Monday.

City Council members voted 10-2 on Monday to delay a vote on demolition for 14 days. Aldermen Tim Durkee and Kevin Frost vote against the delay.

The vote came after nearly an hour of discussion before Alderwoman Gabrielle Torina called for a vote. Alderman Mark Bonne had initially asked for a 60-day delay, but that motion was defeated in a 6-6 tie broken by the mayor. Aldermen Tamir Bell had proposed the 14-day delay.

McInnis told the Rock River Current that potential buyers will need more time than that to do their due diligence before a purchase.

Bonne, who has been a vocal advocate for saving the structure, said he has talked with three potential buyers interested in the property. However, a purchase is clouded by the court order the city obtained to demolish the building.

He said the city has several options to consider. Aldermen could wait to see if a purchase goes through, or the city could negotiate with McInnis to buy the property from him. Or, the city could go to court to ask for an order to obtain the property.

Either of the latter two options would allow the city to negotiate directly with a developer to save the property, Bonne said.

“It seems pretty obvious to me that if we want to save the building we’re not going to do it with the current owner in the middle,” he said. “We need to find a way to gain control of the building and market it ourselves and see what buyers come forward when we present a much cleaner situation to potential developers than what they have now.”

The city took steps toward demolishing the building this summer after a yearslong court battle with McInnis over code violations.

The council was slated to vote on a $233,108 bid for Northern Illinois Service Co. to raze the structure. The demolition bid is scheduled to expire in mid-November if the contractor doesn’t agree to a further extension.

But several aldermen feel a decision on the building’s fate is needed soon. Another freeze-thaw cycle could further damage the property and make saving it even more difficult and expensive, some argued.

“The clock is really ticking as we come into another winter,” Alderman Chad Tuneberg said. “I want somebody to come forward, preferable to council, and like the movie says, ‘show me the money.'”

Meanwhile, McInnis through his attorney has offered to sell the property to the city for $250,000. The city had previously offered to buy it for $1, a move it said would save the owner from paying expenses if they moved forward with the court-approved demolition.

“Ultimately the value of a property is what the seller is willing to sell for and the buyer is willing to pay,” Bonne said in an interview before the meeting. “So what is the council willing to pay and what is he willing to sell it for to achieve this voluntarily, get him out of the middle and then save the building working directly with buyers rather than having McInnis there as a middle man.”

Bonne noted other historic properties the city has bought and held for development, such as the Embassy Suites by Hilton Rockford Riverfront, Barber Colman complex and Chick House Flats, all of which were either redeveloped or have projects underway.

The city also owns the Watch Factory, Trekk building and the former Illinois National Guard Armory, which have proposed redevelopments but have been owned by the city in a state of disrepair for years.

“The city has purchased distressed properties and we have held them, and (some) remain undeveloped, but not all of them,” Bonne said. “I think Embassy Suites is a pretty strong example of something that was very difficult to achieve but was well worth it. I think the art council’s work on the Armory — few people thought that was ever going to come to pass, and now it looks like it very well might.”

Durkee said that the Elks Club property has potential pitfalls that buyers won’t know about until getting a deeper evaluation of the structure. Even then, it faces a multi-million dollar redevelopment that will need a clear business plan to turn it into a successful project.

“When you have guys sniffing around saying, ‘I’m interested,’ people do that every day on a used car lot,” Durkee said. “The developer’s got to come in, he’s got to cash flow this. … It’s not going to be an average investor, it’s going to be a big investor. To my knowledge, no big investor has ever done this. I don’t know that anything magical is going to happen in 14 days, 60 days, or a year.”

The Elks Lodge, which was built in 1912, is on the National Register of Historic Places and in the West Downtown Historic District.

Two reports prepared pro bono on behalf of Landmarks Illinois, a historic building advocacy group, have concluded that the structure is suitable for redevelopment.

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