Local Historian Laments Loss of Historic Buildings

Jake Marino sat in an outside patio in downtown Huntley, talking about different buildings surrounding the Town Square and reciting their history by heart.

Huntley history is the 22-year-old Judson University student’s passion. He has been collecting Huntley memorabilia — his latest is a 1910 postcard depicting the downtown area — since he was a child.

“Every building has history, every building has memories,” he said. “You take one down and you’ve lost the history, you’ve lost the memories.”

Marino is concerned that is happening in Huntley. He, like other local history buffs, questions the village’s plans for a 1890s-era building that operated as a mill on Main Street.

Huntley village trustees recently voted to purchase the building at 11801 Main St. for $115,000 from an out-of-state bank. The bank had foreclosed on the building, which was owned by a local businessman.

The building is known as the Sawyer-Kelley building, named after the original owners. W.G. Sawyer and his partner, John Kelley, also owned the mill known as Marlowe Feed. That structure was demolished last year.

Sawyer and his family owned Star Manufacturing Company. which is now Otto Engineering, Marino said. Sawyer had a wide range of businesses. The Huntley mill on Main Street later became the village’s post office.

What amazes Marino is that building remains standing after a fire in the early 1990s. The wood structure is very sturdy, he said. It still has the original grain bins from 100 years ago on the second floor, he said.

He, like others, is concerned the village plans to tear down the historic building. .

No decision has been made about what to do with the building, Village Manager Dave Johnson said. The sale of the house is not final yet, he said.

“Right now what we are doing is putting together all possible alternative views we will present to the Village Board to look at in the future,” Johnson said.

While some reports indicate improving the building and bringing it up to code could cost about $500,000, Johnson said there are no definite cost estimates.

“We are looking to bring in some experts to see what it costs,” he said.

“I am taking what the village says about that building with a grain of salt,” Marino said.

Marino has heard that the village is weighing its options, but one option would be tearing down the building. The village’s downtown redevelopment plan showed a “futuristic building” on the site, he said.

The village’s downtown master plan does not take into consideration preserving the building, Johnson said. However, “if there’s a way to do something and get money to do it, we will look at it,” he said. “At a point these things get cost-prohibitive.”

Marino is in an unusual position. He is on the village’s Historic Preservation Committee and last year developed a list of endangered historical buildings with background he presented to the board. However, he said he is speaking out about preserving the Sawyer-Kelley mill as a resident, not as a commissioner.

“I just don’t feel enough action is being taken by the board for preservation,” he said. “I’ve watched too many historic structures do down.”

Marino points to the historic buildings that already have been lost, including the Marlowe Feed building, the Enos Conley building which was part of the Dean Foods campus and an old schoolhouse at 11624 E. Main St. constructed by James Mulvey.

He listed the Sawyer and Kelley building as endangered.

“I watched multiple board members yawn (during his presentation last year),” he said. “It annoys the heck out of me. I can’t understand their idea of saving history. I don’t’ see how tearing down a historic building, the very last mill in standing in this town, to put up a parking lot” is going to help the downtown.

Marino has not seen an effort by the village to push historic preservation.

Johnson, however, said the village is supportive of those efforts. The village worked with local historians to preserve Woodstock Street. The city helped secure $250,000 to preserve the brick paved street. “I don’t want it to ever come across that history is not important to the village. It is. It’s a balance,” he said.

“I understand the passion,” Johnson said, adding it is great to see a young man like Marino with a passion for history, “but when you look at the situation, you have to balance passion and what can ultimately be done from a practical” perspective, Johnson said.

Marino thinks residents need to ban together to make the village think about what action to take. “I think if only a handful band together, they will walk all over us,” he said. “No one really stood up and cried foul for Marlowe Feed.”

“We really need the village to come together as a community,” Marino said. “I know we are going to lost history, that is a given. But at the pace we are losing it, it’s unforgivable. It’s absolutely unforgiveable.”