Armory Building
Please enlighten me as to why this building is going to the dirt. I don’t want to slander, but if I recall, Chase Ingersoll was somehow involved in this mess. Is Les referring to Chase in his letter to the editor? Why do we Peorians continually allow our historic buildings to go to the wrecking ball? If anyone can give some background information as to what is really going on here, it would be most interesting and appreciated.
Saturday, Aug 19 letter to the editor from noted Peoria historian and Central Illinois Landmark Foundation (CILF) President Les Kenyon:
The Armory building lost its roof to rain damage. When the city of Peoria took the owner to court regarding the roof leaks, suddenly the ownership was switched to another owner, thereby making the court action impossible. This was done repeatedly to avoid legal action by the city.
The Central Illinois Landmarks Foundation asked the most recent owner if he would give the building to the foundation, thus giving the owner a tax credit.
The foundation talked to the city of Peoria, which was very cooperative, and the city said it had a person who would possibly buy the building. We communicated this to the owner, but he did not give us the letter stating that it was being given to the foundation.
Thus, the most recent owner changed his mind and now the building is lost to the residents of Peoria as a historic site.
The building has an impressive history, hosting Bradley basketball games and Chamber of Commerce events, with speakers including Eleanor Roosevelt and many others.
Leslie H. Kenyon
August 21st, 2006 at 8:40 pm
PI,
I’m with you. I simply can’t understand the mentality of Peorians when it comes to their old and history filled buildings. It’s almost like, “Hey, give us the Walmart Supercenter and we’ll be as happy as pigs in slop.”
August 21st, 2006 at 11:53 pm
OK, I’m all for preservation as I own a 90 year old East Bluff house that I’m always in the constant state of renovation. And I agree with Scott. But considering where this building is located and its size a. what would it be used for b. who could afford its renovation & upkeep from its current state? (I’m thinking regional museum….)
August 22nd, 2006 at 10:30 am
If I had buckets of money…. I would turn it into a 4 season marketplace. Sort of a step up from a farmer’s market.. with a little more permanency. If I had more buckets of money, I would remove taft homes and start to renovate and reinvigorate the surrounding area into a higher income residential neighborhood adjacent to downtown.
But I don’t have buckets of money.
August 22nd, 2006 at 3:24 pm
If I had buckets of money… I’d put it in the bank. How silly to keep your money in buckets!
August 25th, 2006 at 3:48 pm
Had to chime in on this. Some times you [Peorians] win these battles, sometimes you don’t. Peorians whether they know it or not, have been losing their HISTORY for the past 100 years or so. No one is either aware of or cares to do anything about the priceless historical material kept in Peoria’s historic homes [Flanagan and Pent-Moron]. Peoria’s historic documents and material culture is sitting there, unprotected and rotting away. Who is hording this stuff? Who can we hang for this? The condition of Peoria’s entire history [architecture, documentation, material culture, etc] may be saved from ‘evil doers’ and an ignorant select few.
SC
August 25th, 2006 at 4:43 pm
Any building that is large and not making money for the city to mis-spend gets torn down, don’t you know that. Historical or not.
August 26th, 2006 at 7:13 pm
Yes, Peorians are not committed to saving their history. A battle recently won, after almost seven years is the saving of 801 NE Perry from the wrecking ball, the Kerr Apartments. So hoorah for one building saved. The Armory is a beautiful building.
August 26th, 2006 at 9:19 pm
$65 million, for a ridiculously planned museum, would be able to save how many buildings? This kind of money could be used to renovate an older building turning it into the new museum. It IS possible, and the Sears block might be used for somthing that will REALLY make an economic impact in Peoria.
SC
August 26th, 2006 at 9:23 pm
Sorry, I forgot something,
Nothing against Les Kenyon at all, but Les in NOT an historian [article listing Les as “noted Peoria historian…” Neither is that idiot Peter Couri. Most if not all of the people involved with the Reg Museum are not experts in museum studies, and no little if anything about what makes a museum tick. Part of the problem?