Presentation of our annual awards during a Rock Island City Council meeting preceded our intended regular but short meeting. After the awards, we adjourned to a reserved room at the Blue Cat Brew Pub. However the attendance was so large that it was necessary to be seated at several different tables, which was not conducive to a meeting. Some groups did discuss a potential walking tour area this autumn, which included the vicinity of 8th Avenue in the Keystone Neighborhood.

Next meeting, June 17 at Pete & Terri Cone’s, 1604 22nd Street.

ANNUAL AWARDS: Following Mayor Mark Schwiebert’s proclamation of the month of May as Historic Preservation Month, the mayor and our President Linda Anderson presented recognition to eight projects that were completed in 2007. Daryl Empen took many photos of these projects which he used to prepare a framed presentation for each honoree. These photos were also projected on screens in the Council Chambers so the audience could see the projects.

A brief summary of our recognized projects follows.

CERTIFICATES of RECOGNITION

Van Galder House, 1010 20th Street, Honoree: Enyo Dewith - The deteriorating front porch of this home was completely rebuilt and reconstructed reusing vintage material where possible and appropriate new material.

Wilmerton House, 1604 22nd Street, Peter & Terri Cone - The once open sun porch with original wood frame screens in very poor condition was retrofitted with custom wood windows and screens in the same configuration as the screens.

AWARDS
All four of the awards were given for homes which have been completely restored and renovated, both inside and out as a single family home. Without exception, these homes were in deteriorated condition or had been reconfigured for other than their historic single-family use.

Cozad House, 1607 20th Street, Mike Hammer - Removal of wildlife which accessed the interior through rotted built-in gutters was the first step in this restoration. Although the house body is brick, much of the exterior wood trim had not been maintained and was in critical condition. Windows were rebuilt to original appearances and the heavily overgrown grounds were trimmed.

Knox House, 734 22nd Street, Al & Margaret Melody - Despite a nearly new wood shingle roof, the basement of the house was partially open to the elements and part of the back of the house had been removed when the Melodys began their work to restore architectural elements, both inside and out. Stucco was repaired and a missing basement wall was rebuilt with a new room addition above.

Sweeney House, 816 20th Street, Bryan Pattschull & David Cordes - This brick home, once converted to office use, was completely restored as a single family residence. Original window sashes were repaired and protected with new shaped storm windows and the house was repainted, retaining the original painted window “drapery” effect. A once enclosed rear porch was reopened and a new garage was built where a long gone barn once stood. Finally the original brick driveway was lifted and relaid.

Welch House, 817 23rd Street, Jeff & Martha Dismer - This once eight-unit apartment was restored to its original use as a single family home. Windows, clapboard and shingle siding, and porch railings were extensively repaired and rebuilt, then painted in deep toned Victorian colors. The massive iron fence from the 1920s was disassembled for repair and then reinstalled.

SPECIAL HONORS

City of Rock Island for Sylvan Slough Natural Area
A former industrial site that was slated to be open space on the Sylvan Slough side of the riverfront still held the ruins of several industrial buildings on land that was contaminated with industrial waste. After decontamination the unusable buildings were carefully deconstructed to create an industrial sculpture garden. This newest park, that could simply have been only a large lawn, thus pays homage to our industrial riverfront of the past while creating a place of delight today. In presenting the award, Linda recommended more signage to interpret this industrial history.

Friends of Longfellow School & Keystone Neighborhood Association for Advocacy to save Longfellow School
When the Keystone Neighborhood Association learned that their school was likely to be closed in the next few years, they mounted a campaign, through the Friends of Longfellow School, to save it. With a multiphased effort, that involved bringing proponents of historic schools to speak, fund raising with a Trivia Night, the group continually publicized and reinforced the positive qualities of their school and the need it in their neighborhood. They were successful and historic Longfellow School survived and will soon be expanded to serve the neighborhood even better.