Ottawa Preservation committee frowns on proposed courthouse generator

The Ottawa Historic Preservation Commission rejected a request for a certificate of appropriateness on an above-ground diesel generator outside the old La Salle County Courthouse from La Salle County Board Chairman Donald Jensen, but the Ottawa City Council will get the final vote.

Commissioners cited concerns the BCA Architects design would clash with the building’s historic image.

A 20-foot by 10-foot generator above the ground on the front lawn, commissioners said, would be damaging.

George Cary, in a written statement since he couldn’t make the meeting, called the generator a monstrosity.

Commissioner Bob Eschbach said the concern he has is the vinyl on the fencing surrounding the generator will look cheap and wear down over time, which drew agreement among the rest of the commission.

“We don’t have guidelines specifically for generators but I think you know the gist of the guidelines is to prefer the integrity of the downtown as much as possible,” Eschbach said.

Regardless of whether the aesthetic is appropriate, Jensen said a generator is going to be necessary soon.

“La Salle County has, for some time, been considering the installation of an emergency generator to be able to maintain the operations of the courthouse and activities within should the electrical power be interrupted,” Jensen said.

Jensen said the safety of those inside the building is a concern, specifically because of events such as Tuesday’s outage: a man was stuck inside the elevator.

On top of that, the court system has further delays because of backloads in the system and the time it takes for the servers to reboot after an outage.

Commissioner David Rabideau told Jensen during the meeting this isn’t a rejection of the generator itself, just a rejection of the current plan.

Eschbach said this decision is a recommendation, and the City Council can rule however it wants once the project reaches its desk.