Efforts seek to preserve house built by Wheaton founder

WHEATON – Wheaton Historic Commission Chairwoman Nancy Flannery is worried about the history that would be lost if a house built in 1847 and 1848 by city founder Warren Wheaton is razed to make way for a Starbucks.

"Once you lose your history, you've lost yourself," said Flannery, who opposes a proposal to raze the two-story building at the northeast corner of Roosevelt and Naperville roads in Wheaton. The building recently had housed a Coldwell Banker Real Estate office.

The house was enclosed in 1910 by Wheaton's daughter, Lucy Darling, and her husband, William Darling, as they worked to expand the house. Flannery said. The existing 1847 structure still exists within the walls of the current structure, she said.

The house at 623 S. Naperville Road is on the Wheaton Historic Commission's Wheaton Register of Historic Places. Flannery said the 1847 house, constructed of hand-hewn planks, is the oldest building in Wheaton.

The register is designed to identify and acknowledge historically significant sites in Wheaton and to promote awareness and appreciation of their importance to Wheaton.

"Wheaton has been in a state of growth for a long time, and we've lost a lot of our old buildings, our historic structures," Flannery said. "This [house] is one of the signature parts of Wheaton. When you would come into Wheaton, this is one of the first homes you would see coming down what is now Roosevelt Road. It was a kind of symbol of Wheaton for a long time."

Being on the register doesn't prevent the building from being torn down, Flannery said. Northbrook-based Cornersite LLC plans to purchase the property and raze the existing two-story building and construct a new 5,546-square-foot single-story, two-tenant retail building. Starbucks plans to lease a 2,048-square-foot store with a drive-thru.

The Wheaton City Council is set to vote on the project at its meeting at 7 p.m. Nov. 7. The city's Planning and Zoning Board on Oct. 11 unanimously voted against rezoning the property from office research use to commercial use and granting a special use permit for the project.

"I do remain concerned about potential traffic problems, particularly in a residential area nearby," board member Ronald Almiron said in voting against the project. "I just don't think this is the right fit."

Steph McGrath, who lives on Ellis Avenue and serves as a member of the Historic Commission, also spoke against the project during the Oct. 11 meeting.

"Wheaton owes its very existence to Warren Wheaton," McGrath said, in addressing Planning and Zoning Board members. "It would be an outrage to raze our founder's home on its 170th anniversary."

Resident Brenda Kramer, who lives on Indiana Street near the Warren Wheaton house, voiced concerns at the meeting about the additional traffic the proposed project would generate.

"My concern really is about public safety and what this means to us," Kramer said. "It's going to increase the traffic in those neighborhoods."

If the City Council votes to approve the plans for the building, Flannery said she hopes the house can be moved so it can be preserved.

"Once we lose this place, we will never get it back," she said. "We are opposed to the demolition of an historic structure. Our goal is to preserve the structure."