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Letters to the Historic Preservation Commission

August 4, 2003

Peoria Historic Preservation Commission
City Hall
419 Fulton
Peoria, IL 61602

Dear Commissioners:

Thank you for voting to hold a public hearing on landmark status for the Peoria Universalist-Unitarian Church.   We appreciate your commitment to the larger community of Peoria, which needs to preserve its historic buildings.

We are enclosing a page from the most recent edition of the church newsletter, suggesting talking points for the advocates of the destruction of this unique building. As you can see, there is no objectivity or second thoughts here from this group. We touched on some of these points in our previous letter, but we rebut them as they are listed here:

1. The church cannot afford to spend the money: Not true. Other UU churches elsewhere have held successful building renovation campaigns. The building is not now dilapidated and could be improved gradually with the help of pledges and would be eligible for a $200,000 grant from the national Unitarian/Universalist Association. The truth is that certain church leaders have decided they would rather spend their money on other things, that some are enjoying their temporary roles as wheeler-dealer developers, and that some operate or are involved with community not-for-profit organizations and may fear the fund raising competition with their own workplaces.

2. Landmark status would isolate: Would it? What are Methodist’s plans for this site? No one knows. We doubt the city would allow plans that would totally isolate the church.

3. Killing the deal at the last minute: Those opposed to the sale and demolition argued it would be controversial. The advocates for the sale didn’t listen and now whine about the controversy. Obviously there was no controversy until the deal was made public.

4. Two years of planning: Not true, unless a secret conspiracy was set up from the beginning. Two years ago Methodist asked the church how much it wanted for the property, a committee was set up to study that, and the process moved from there. The congregation had about a month to consider the offer, then those who attended the meeting voted (less than 50 percent of the entire membership.) This is a decision done in haste, not over two years.

5. Landmark status could prevent growth. Not true. The church is gaining substantial property from the relocation of Knoxville Avenue due to I-74 reconstruction and would have the space for expansion.

6. Taking parts of the building...: This is true -- but it will not replace the loss to the community of a unique and visible building, and taking the windows, etc., may discourage Methodist from preserving the building itself for other purposes.

But let’s be clear here. Methodist initiated this process, so we encourage you to put Methodist on the spot at the hearing -- to find out exactly what they plan and why they are paying more than three times the property’s assessed value. Ask them whether they plan to preserve the building. It could become a hospital chapel, for example, a small auditorium for training or programs (it has great acoustics) or a hospital/medical museum or all three.

Please note that the committee negotiating the deal with Methodist (without church input) to our knowledge never considered selling with the condition that Methodist preserve the building for its own use. But that could still be negotiated. Why hasn’t it been considered?

You probably have confronted this situation before: the buyers want what they want, regardless of the larger good to the community, and the sellers are seduced by the money, feeling like they’ve won the lottery. We ask that you take the larger view, and work to preserve Peoria’s historic architecture. If some UUs don’t care enough about the larger community to do that, then perhaps Methodist does.

Methodist is a founder of Peoria Next which seeks to attract high quality business and employees to the community. One of Peoria’s main assets is its historic look that makes it different from other cities. Perhaps the hospital will have second thoughts about keeping the building, a piece of Peoria’s history, and a deal can be negotiated that will save the building. At this point creative thinking is required, and is worth trying.

Sincerely yours,

ELAINE and GEORGE HOPKINS
Peoria, Il.

6/25/03

To: The Peoria Historic Preservation Commission
Peoria, IL.

Dear Commission:

Thank you for expressing concern about the potential destruction of the historic and unique Universalist-Unitarian Church.   We have been members of this church since the early 1980s, and are very concerned about the hasty and unwise decision of the membership to sell to Methodist Medical Center.

We are also concerned about Methodist’s motives and intentions in offering to purchase the property at a price more than triple its appraised value, surely a tempting but unwise offer from a not-for-profit charity hospital which takes millions in state and federal tax money to fund its activities. We also are wondering how this purchase would affect that funding, which is formula-based.

We are enclosing an ad that Methodist ran in the Journal Star this week. Note the marked section, which states Methodist must invest excess funds “in programs and services which enhance the health and well-being of our community.“ It’s hard to understand how destruction of a historic building follows that mission.

We hope you will hold a public hearing on the UU church property to explore those motives and plans, and to hold both the church and the hospital accountable for the impact of their decision on the public interest in Peoria to maintain its historic resources.

You should be aware that the UU church membership was not fully represented at the meeting where the vote to sell occurred. Church Bylaws say only members present can vote, and those members defeated efforts to amend the Bylaws to allow for absentee ballots on this important issue.

In the end only 50 percent of the entire membership approved the sale, after a balloting process that some also considered unfair. An attempt to change that process also was defeated.

Church spokespersons have said the membership cannot afford to maintain the building. That is not true. The building is sound and in good condition. It has been maintained over the years. It would take perhaps $500,000 to $600,000 to restore the building and its contents including a historic organ to mint, like-new condition with an elevator for better handicapped access. Those funds could be raised over several years. Those of us who wanted to save the building had garnered $70,000 in pledges in only a few weeks, and had many fund raising ideas which the decision short-circuited.

If you need more information, we can send you the minutes of the meeting and information on the building and what it would take to upgrade it and its contents to perfect condition.

Thanks for your concern for Peoria. We have just returned from a weekend visit to Mineral Point, Wisc., an entire town on the National Register of Historic Places, where historic churches and other buildings have been maintained. The trip was a delight. Peoria will be extremely short sighted to let its historic buildings be demolished. If some do not recognize that fact, perhaps your leadership will change their minds.

Sincerely yours,

ELAINE and GEORGE HOPKINS
Peoria, Il.

Journal Star Ad 8/31/03

Flier Sent to UU Congregation

WISE WORDS

"Thousands of historic urban houses of worship across the nation... are threatened by years of defered maintenance, financial disinvestment and, in some instances, soaring real estate values that make selling the property an attractive proposition for shrinking congregations. Abandoning these buildings would mean losing an irretrievable part of the nation's cultural heritage..."
Diane Cohen and Robert Jaeger, co-founders and directors of Partners for Sacred Places, a preservation group, quoted in the Washington Post, 6/14/03, and republished in the UU World, Sept. 2003, Testimony, p. 19.
www.sacredplaces.org
email: partners@sacredplaces.org

A brief history of the
Peoria UU Church



		Letters to the Historic Preservation Commission

					August 4, 2003 Peoria Historic Preservation Commission City Hall 419 Fulton Peoria, IL 61602 Dear Commissioners: Thank you for voting to hold a public hearing on landmark status for the Peoria Universalist-Unitarian Church. We appreciate your commitment to the larger community of Peoria, which needs to preserve its historic buildings. We are enclosing a page from the most recent edition of the church newsletter, suggesting talking points for the advocates of the destruction of this unique building. As you can see, there is no objectivity or second thoughts here from this group. We touched on some of these points in our previous letter, but we rebut them as they are listed here: 1. The church cannot afford to spend the money: Not true. Other UU churches elsewhere have held successful building renovation campaigns. The building is not now dilapidated and could be improved gradually with the help of pledges and would be eligible for a $200,000 grant from the national Unitarian/Universalist Association. The truth is that certain church leaders have decided they would rather spend their money on other things, that some are enjoying their temporary roles as wheeler-dealer developers, and that some operate or are involved with community not-for-profit organizations and may fear the fund raising competition with their own workplaces. 2. Landmark status would isolate: Would it? What are Methodist’s plans for this site? No one knows. We doubt the city would allow plans that would totally isolate the church. 3. Killing the deal at the last minute: Those opposed to the sale and demolition argued it would be controversial. The advocates for the sale didn’t listen and now whine about the controversy. Obviously there was no controversy until the deal was made public. 4. Two years of planning: Not true, unless a secret conspiracy was set up from the beginning. Two years ago Methodist asked the church how much it wanted for the property, a committee was set up to study that, and the process moved from there. The congregation had about a month to consider the offer, then those who attended the meeting voted (less than 50 percent of the entire membership.) This is a decision done in haste, not over two years. 5. Landmark status could prevent growth. Not true. The church is gaining substantial property from the relocation of Knoxville Avenue due to I-74 reconstruction and would have the space for expansion. 6. Taking parts of the building...: This is true -- but it will not replace the loss to the community of a unique and visible building, and taking the windows, etc., may discourage Methodist from preserving the building itself for other purposes. But let’s be clear here. Methodist initiated this process, so we encourage you to put Methodist on the spot at the hearing -- to find out exactly what they plan and why they are paying more than three times the property’s assessed value. Ask them whether they plan to preserve the building. It could become a hospital chapel, for example, a small auditorium for training or programs (it has great acoustics) or a hospital/medical museum or all three. Please note that the committee negotiating the deal with Methodist (without church input) to our knowledge never considered selling with the condition that Methodist preserve the building for its own use. But that could still be negotiated. Why hasn’t it been considered? You probably have confronted this situation before: the buyers want what they want, regardless of the larger good to the community, and the sellers are seduced by the money, feeling like they’ve won the lottery. We ask that you take the larger view, and work to preserve Peoria’s historic architecture. If some UUs don’t care enough about the larger community to do that, then perhaps Methodist does. Methodist is a founder of Peoria Next which seeks to attract high quality business and employees to the community. One of Peoria’s main assets is its historic look that makes it different from other cities. Perhaps the hospital will have second thoughts about keeping the building, a piece of Peoria’s history, and a deal can be negotiated that will save the building. At this point creative thinking is required, and is worth trying. Sincerely yours, ELAINE and GEORGE HOPKINS Peoria, Il.


6/25/03 To: The Peoria Historic Preservation Commission Peoria, IL. Dear Commission: Thank you for expressing concern about the potential destruction of the historic and unique Universalist-Unitarian Church. We have been members of this church since the early 1980s, and are very concerned about the hasty and unwise decision of the membership to sell to Methodist Medical Center. We are also concerned about Methodist’s motives and intentions in offering to purchase the property at a price more than triple its appraised value, surely a tempting but unwise offer from a not-for-profit charity hospital which takes millions in state and federal tax money to fund its activities. We also are wondering how this purchase would affect that funding, which is formula-based. We are enclosing an ad that Methodist ran in the Journal Star this week. Note the marked section, which states Methodist must invest excess funds “in programs and services which enhance the health and well-being of our community.“ It’s hard to understand how destruction of a historic building follows that mission. We hope you will hold a public hearing on the UU church property to explore those motives and plans, and to hold both the church and the hospital accountable for the impact of their decision on the public interest in Peoria to maintain its historic resources. You should be aware that the UU church membership was not fully represented at the meeting where the vote to sell occurred. Church Bylaws say only members present can vote, and those members defeated efforts to amend the Bylaws to allow for absentee ballots on this important issue. In the end only 50 percent of the entire membership approved the sale, after a balloting process that some also considered unfair. An attempt to change that process also was defeated. Church spokespersons have said the membership cannot afford to maintain the building. That is not true. The building is sound and in good condition. It has been maintained over the years. It would take perhaps $500,000 to $600,000 to restore the building and its contents including a historic organ to mint, like-new condition with an elevator for better handicapped access. Those funds could be raised over several years. Those of us who wanted to save the building had garnered $70,000 in pledges in only a few weeks, and had many fund raising ideas which the decision short-circuited. If you need more information, we can send you the minutes of the meeting and information on the building and what it would take to upgrade it and its contents to perfect condition. Thanks for your concern for Peoria. We have just returned from a weekend visit to Mineral Point, Wisc., an entire town on the National Register of Historic Places, where historic churches and other buildings have been maintained. The trip was a delight. Peoria will be extremely short sighted to let its historic buildings be demolished. If some do not recognize that fact, perhaps your leadership will change their minds. Sincerely yours, ELAINE and GEORGE HOPKINS Peoria, Il.

	Journal Star Ad 8/31/03 Flier Sent to UU Congregation

			WISE WORDS "Thousands of historic urban houses of worship across the nation... are threatened by years of defered maintenance, financial disinvestment and, in some instances, soaring real estate values that make selling the property an attractive proposition for shrinking congregations. Abandoning these buildings would mean losing an irretrievable part of the nation's cultural heritage..." Diane Cohen and Robert Jaeger, co-founders and directors of Partners for Sacred Places, a preservation group, quoted in the Washington Post, 6/14/03, and republished in the UU World, Sept. 2003, Testimony, p. 19. www.sacredplaces.org email: partners@sacredplaces.org
				A brief history of the Peoria UU Church