New gas station forces relocation or demolition of 1851 building

An 1851 limestone building may be relocated or demolished to make room for a gas station.

The fate of the apartment house at 411 E. Jackson St. is unsettled as the city begins making zoning decisions to allow the gas station to be built.

On Thursday, the Zoning Board of Appeals approved zoning variations and the Plan Commission approved a plat for the gas station to be built at the corner of Jackson and Collins streets.

“We believe that our plan is a good one for that location. It creates a great economic benefit,” attorney Michael Hansen, representing the developer, told the zoning board.

The gas station is estimated to generate $350,000 in sales tax revenue.

Asked whether the house will be relocated, Hansen told the board, “That’s still in discussion.”

No one objected to the development plan at either meeting, although members of both panels asked about the possibilities of relocation.

“We’ve pointed out that the city owns vacant land that would be large enough to accommodate the building should it be moved,” Director of Planning Michael Schwarz told the zoning board.

The vacant land is about three blocks to the east of where the building is now.

The city is determining what it would cost to move the building, which is made of Joliet limestone.

“It remains to be seen whether it would be the city or the developer taking the lead on the move if it would be feasible,” Schwarz said.

Hansen, when asked later about the possibilities of relocation, called the subject “complicated.”

“To move the building is not complicated,” he said.

Other issues, he said, are costs associated with the move and building codes.

The building now is used for apartments.

BSTP has not finalized the gas station brand that would go on the site. Thorntons, however, has been mentioned as the likely brand.

An historic assessment of the building done by Douglas Gilbert Architect in Oak Park states that it was built about 1851 for George Casseday, a wealthy land speculator, and his family.

The assessment states that there are rumors that the building was a stage coach stop at one time and was somehow affiliated with the state prison on Collins Street.

“Both rumors appear to be completely false,” the assessment states.