GENEVA – The Geneva Historic Preservation will be deciding the future of the circa 1843 limestone blacksmith shop Tuesday night.

The Shodeen Family Foundation, which owns the former blacksmith shop at 4 E. state St., is seeking a de-designation of its historic landmark status and permission to demolish it. The hearing started in January and was continued to March, April, May, June and July – when testimony was closed.

Demolition is a last resort if the owner has no alternatives – an issue disputed between David Patzelt, representing the Shodeen Family Foundation and various preservationists who testified.

Patzelt had testified to the poor condition of the limestone structure, based on architects’ analysis for repurposing and restoring the structure.

Patzelt cited the AltusWorks architectural firm assessment: “severely deteriorated, poor condition, missing limestone, cracked mortar joints, not properly mortared joints, unstable, no longer stable. … The existing structural remnants of the original … building are only marginally stable.”

Among those advocating for preservation were Geneva resident Colin Campbell, Kendra Parzen, advocacy manager for Landmarks Illinois, and Al Watts of Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley.

“In 2018, Landmarks Illinois included this building among the most endangered historic places in Illinois,” Parzen testified at the Jan. 18 hearing. “This circa-1846 blacksmith shop is one of the oldest surviving commercial structures in Geneva and it’s an important structure associated with Geneva’s pioneer era.”

Landmarks Illinois also included it among the most endangered historic sites in 2023.

The city’s preliminary historic evaluation of the site was described “as one of the few examples of pre-1850 commercial or industrial buildings in Geneva and is among the oldest of its kind in the entire Fox Valley.”

“The building stands, in 2018, as an example of a utilitarian building that – for more than 170 years – has been adapted and re-purposed, continuously, to accommodate growth and redevelopment of the east bank of the Fox River at Geneva,” according to the evaluation.

There also is the issue the cost of repurposing the 180-year-old structure.

Patzelt introduced testimony that it would cost $1,000 per square foot to repurpose the structure for a retail purpose – which is not financially feasible.

Watts had countered that the structure has other viable uses than retail, such as a kayak or bike shelter, a community room, fitness room, sales office, marketing tool for their property, photography backdrop, an open air garden that does not require a roof, an open air patio, a small outdoor concert venue, restaurant.

“The applicant, as a property owner, has a right to choose what they wish for their property,” Watts had testified. “When their property is an historic landmark, it possesses a shared heritage within the community, giving the public a right to weigh in. This is why the city has an historic preservation ordinance with a high – but not insurmountable – bar for approving the demolition of an historic landmark.”

Patzelt put a sign on the building in March, stating it is for sale for $1.00 – land not included – to illustrate the impossibility of restoring it or moving it.

Patzelt said no one was interested in buying it.

Analysis from consultants Teska and Associates and The Planera Group found that if $1.7 million from a tax increment finance district were applied in a public-private partnership, that could save the structure and repurpose it.

A tax increment financing district – known as a TIF – is a development tool used by local governments to encourage development or redevelopment in blighted areas that would be too expensive to improve with private dollars alone.

“All feasible alternatives over a five-year period have clearly been exhausted,” Shodeen attorney Kate McCracken said in July. “This can be developed, but it can only be developed in the event a public-private partnership is established. Right now, it’s just us. There’s been no TIF consideration. As far as we know, there is no availability of TIF funds. … There is nothing on the table.”

If the Shodeen Family Foundation does not agree with the commission’s decisions on de-designation and demolition, it can appeal to the City Council.