12/08/2003 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

? on the emotion of that one building being the oldest commercial building in town and the only truly historical looking commercial building. He said the Mayor is saying he wants the new library to look like Old Town Hall and that is because people fee] comfortable to sense history and recognize it. He has no problem if the end result is that Mr. Halleen knocks the building down if that is what he is allowed to do, but it seems wrong. He would not give up. All the reports are saying they can't move the building and unless someone is going to pull money out of their own pockets, they have to fight to keep the building on site. Let's say it costs $45,000, and that is a relatively reasonable scenario, unless they have the money, the building is gone. It would be sad to have a community like Bay Village, or Olmsted Falls take it for their city. Mrs. Davis mentioned a man in Olmsted Township that has taken buildings from other cominunities. Mr. Yager said they need to put their foot down now and the credibility of the commission is at stake. The commission was created through Council to help them salvage and maintain some of the historical aspects of the city and this is one of them. Mrs. Lord said the frustration. is they invited the entire Council, and the directors, to a meeting in October. Mr. Lang said the Mayor and Mr. Halleen were at the meeting. They followed it up with a meeting with Council, the finance committee, and reviewed the evolution of this project with them and did not get far with that either. Mr. Lang said he is going to follow up with Ms. Wenger, the Planning Director. Mr. Yager asked if they have the ability to write out a document that can be read to Council and the Planning Commission about the attributes of that particular building. He said it has almost no issues to deal with inside. Everyone says it's a good building. Mrs. Lord said they have the OHI document that was done when they did the comprehensive survey of North Olmsted. It is a registered OHI building. As far as the history of the building, most of it is hearsay. Mrs. VanAuken had gathered a lot of information from interviewing Mr. Bebe who lives right behind the building, and gathered other stories. There is no comprehensive history of the building written down but they could probably do something. Mrs. VanAuken said she did hear some stories from some of the older people in the area. Mrs. Lord said at least it is hearsay froin people that can be named. Mrs. Davis mentioned the picture of the horse and wagon in front of the store. She asked if that is something that can be replicated. Mr. Lang said he believes there is a date on the photo. Mrs. VanAuken said she thinks it is 1902. She thinks the picture came from the historical society and they may have something more about it because every time a commercial person coines along and says they want historical material, they get it from the historical society. Mr. Lang said it is difficult to get in touch with them. They have not returned his calls. Mr. Yager said another thing someone mentioned was getting the city archived. They can talk to people while they are still around and find out as much as they can about the structures they lived near or gew up in. He suggested going to the Senior Center and photographing all the buildings. Mrs. Lord said they have a lot of that. V. COMMUNICATIONS: Letter from Mayor Musial regarding Rebecca's Letter to Mayor Musial from L. VanAuken announcing resignation Memo to Council regarding Rebecca's E-mail from J. Lang to J. Dubelko regarding interpretation of duties Letter from the Cleveland Restoration Society regarding Heritage Home Loan Program Oberlin Heritage Center - Gazette The Local Historian Echoes newsletter VL CONIlVIITTEE REPORTS: VI. OLD BUSINESS: Discussion of the proposed rules of procedure - Mr. Lang said that Mr. O'Malley handed out the proposed rules at the last meeting. He said there is not a lot that he would recommend changing except the time needs to be 7:00 p.m. It also needs to read that they meet at Old Town Hall. Mr. Barker mentioned an item on page two, regarding the order of the meetings. He said the way Mr. O'Malley has 7