Old High School

 City Council voted to acquire the deed to the old high school building on N. Springer Street from whatever limbo it is in and demolish the building as a safety hazard. Council looked at rehabing the building but would likely cost well over $2 million to do so. An inspection would run $25,000 to $30,000 by itself. Given that water comes into the building during rains, ceilings have collapsed in some areas and a number of windows are broken, rehabilitating the structure, built in 1922, does not appear feasible. 

This is indicative of a problem with older buildings I have noticed in Carbondale over the years. Structures get ignored by their owners or the city, with maintenance continually put off,until the building has deteriorated so much that it is too costly to rehabilitate and the only option is to raze it. This happened with the old Johnson Hotel on North Illinois, the Tuscan Lodge at the corner of Jackson and Washington and the Bank Building/Opera House at the corner of Main and Washington, as well as the Southern Recycling and Peerless Laundry buildings on South Washington. True all of them were in unsalvagable shape by the time of demolition but owners also let them run down instead of maintaining them.

City Survey

The city makes grants available for rehabilitation of older homes in the community and is surveying residents to find out which area of the city it should target for the next block of available rehabilitation grants. However, if someone comes to your door over the next month asking you to fill out a survey, probably not a bad idea to ask them for identification.  From the press release.

In an effort to continue to bring grant funding to the community, the City of Carbondale will be conducting a housing survey in northeast Carbondale to help determine a target area for future rehabilitation grants.

City staff will be conducting door-to-door surveys from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. now through November.

The survey will consist of demographics and economic and housing-related questions that are required by the state for housing rehabilitation assistance. Surveys will take approximately five minutes to complete.

All of the information gathered will be used solely for statistical analysis and will be kept confidential in accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-579). Residents are encouraged to participate.

If you would like more information about this program or to be added to a mailing list for future housing grants, contact Carbondale Senior Planner Travis Taylor at (618) 457-3233 or ttaylor@explorecarbondale.com.

Wanna Rehab Your House?

This is the list of resources provided to Home Rentals by the Preservation Commission should HR decide to rehab the Stotlar House rather than demolish it:

Local
Property Tax Assessment Freeze--property taxes on the building can be frozen for over a 122 year period after rehab is completed.

State
Landmarks Illinois has the Preservation Heritage Fund Grant which provides assistance to preserve or protect significant structures and sites in Illinois

Federal
Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit--offers a dollar for dollar Federal income tax credit equal to 20% of the construction costs.

Low Income Housing Tax Credit--Offered a tax credit for the rehab of low income housing. Either 9% per year for 10 years for projects not receiving Federal subsidies or 4% for those subsidized. (Don't think the Stotlar House would qualify).

National Trust for Historic Preservation--A number of grant and loan programs are available.