Crystal Lake historic barn’s $200K price tag to restore raises new questions about its future

Renovations of a 140-year-old barn in Crystal Lake are estimated to cost more than $200,000 as the Crystal Lake Park District discusses how exactly to go about the restoration and how many taxpayer dollars to spend on it.

The Barlina barn at 705 Barlina Road was set to be demolished by the Crystal Lake Park District last year in order to renovate Hill Farm Park. Parks officials said at the time that demolition was the only financially rational thing to do after efforts to repurpose the building, or even its wood, were unsuccessful.

But after pushback from the Crystal Lake Historic Preservation Commission, the district started to look into ways to save the barn and keep the structure intact. In June, the park board voted unanimously to spend almost $20,000 for an architectural firm specializing in historic preservation, McGuire Igleski & Associates Inc., to assess the building’s structure and create historic documentation.

The firm’s structural analysis of the barn complex found the historic structures – including the barn, corn crib and milk house – are in relatively good shape, while the newer additions are severely deteriorated. Historic Preservation Specialist Erica Ruggiero recommended the nonhistoric deteriorated structures be demolished or rebuilt.

“The irony is not lost on me that the newer structures are the ones that are in the worst condition,” park board President Sarah Michehl said.

The firm estimates repairs to cost about $200,000 for the barn, about $30,000 for the corn crib and about $12,000 for the milk house and silo repairs, according to park district documents.

“Since we were gifted these historic buildings, we haven’t really invested in them,” board member Cathy Cagle said. “The condition they’re in is, to some extent, is due [the park district] not taking care of them.”

After a lively discussion during a park board meeting Thursday – including some board members still debating if the barn should be demolished – the board decided to use the allocated demolition budget to fund further investigating and planning by the historic preservation firm. The future of how to use the barn – whether for public use to simply keep it standing – still is undecided.

“We need to decide as a board what it is that we ultimately want,” Michehl said. “We need to stop kicking the can down the road.”

The board plans to identify the cost of priority projects in future meetings and figure out what it can budget for further barn renovations. Crystal Lake resident Jim Heisler said he can try fundraising from private sources, so the park district would not have to bear all of the repair costs.

Ruggiero found more historical information on the barn, which used to be called Golf View Farm, through her assessment and found it was owned in the early 1930s by William Lorimer, who represented Illinois in the U.S. House and Senate. Prominent farmer and businesswoman Christine Spirrison owned the farm in the 1950s, when she was an active member of the McHenry County Holstein Club and the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce.

“I was actually pretty surprised that there was so many prominent local ... and national people associated with the farm,” Ruggiero said.

The barn was built in 1884 by a doctor named Lorenzo Lowell. It and surrounding farmland were bought by Ivan Hill in 1960. He named the farm “Barlina” after his three children, Barry, Lisa and Nina, according to the Crystal Lake Historical Society. The Barlina farm was donated to the park district in 1972.

Heisler brought Crystal Lake resident Bill Berghorn to speak at the meeting. Berghorn used to work at the Barlina barn when it was a dairy farm, one of the largest in Illinois with more than 200 of the best cows from across the country, he said. The barn is the last structure remaining that reminds the city of its prominent roots of dairy farming, he said.

“I could tell you the names and where those cows stood,” Berghorn said. “And why do I remember that? Because it was that special.”