McHENRY – The Main Street building is kind of boring architecturally, just with two nice brick exterior walls that are being repaired, its owner said.
What the building does have is "a lot of history," said Gary Garwood, who bought the building at 3932 Main St. in 2008 with his partner Kenneth Pesz and has spent more money restoring it than they hoped. Built in 1927,
the building suffered a "somewhat devastating fire" a
few years later but was partially saved and partially rebuilt.
It’s that history that qualified the pair for a facade grant from the city of McHenry, which restricts the program to commercial buildings at least 50 years old. The grant was approved unanimously by the McHenry City Council earlier this week.
But Garwood was lukewarm about the grant of $3,000, which he said “is better than a hot stick in the eye” but doesn’t “offset a lot in the big picture.”
The building, which houses a tattoo parlor downstairs and two apartments upstairs, needed a new
roof and windows within the first two years Garwood and Pesz owned it. This past
August they hired a contractor to tuck-point the crumbling brick, and the next
project is painting the exterior.
The tuck-pointing cost about $18,500 and the painting is expected to cost $11,000, more than the original estimate of $8,500, Garwood said, adding that he decided to go the preservation route because he loves old buildings, including the 1938 home he now lives in that was built by his grandfather.
The facade grant program is only open to certain types of exterior work and while tuck-pointing is one, painting is not included.
The grant did make a difference to Bike Haven co-owner Josh Arnow, the last recipient of the program.
The $2,500 the bike shop received in January 2012 went toward restoring the bricked-up windows on the former NAPA Auto Parts location at 3318 W. Pearl St. to a style similar to the one that existed on the building when it was a car dealership.
The extra help allowed them to go with large single panes, which required a crane to install, Arnow said, adding that the overall restoration cost about $40,000.
McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce President Kay Rial Bates hasn’t heard a lot of murmuring about the program, adding that the city will “bend over backwards to work with someone.”
The chamber had its own grant program that was discontinued before the recession, she said. The program offered grants of $1,000 to $2,000 for building improvements.
Either way, Alderman Victor Santi would like to take another look at the program as part of the city’s budgeting process, adding that while he’s happy the city can provide any assistance to businesses, he’d like to see the city do more.
But with the city’s property tax levy set to remain flat again this year, Alderwoman Geri Condon doesn’t know if the city can afford to do more.
“In the grand scheme of things, it’s a drop in the bucket,” she said. “But it’s some encouragement. To me, it’s a way of showing we want to be cooperative and we want to be partners in helping our community look better.”
Each year, the city sets aside $5,000 for the program, which wouldn’t prevent the council from considering a larger qualifying project, City Administrator Derik Morefield said, adding that the program isn’t taken advantage of very often because the projects tend to be bigger and the building has to be at least 50 years old.
“Not everyone can take advantage of it,” he said.
The village of Cary established a similar program about two years ago that offers a matching grant up of to $10,000 for exterior improvements like facade upgrades and updated signs on any commercial building, Community Development Director Brian Simmons said. It's been used about five times over those two years.
The city of Woodstock also covers up to 50 percent of the cost of a project with its program, which is restricted to its historic district and paid for using dollars generated by the tax increment financing district, City Planner Nancy Baker said. The program is open to any type of property but prioritizes commercial properties.
The program was established in 2009 and had its biggest year ever this year, she said. The city spent $58,700 on four new projects and one project that had to be carried over to this year so it could be coordinated with other work.