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CURTIS OSTRANDER	DUAINE HARDING
ELEANOR TODD	ELMER "BUD" HAHN
GERVASE KILEY	MARIAN SUTTON
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Village Council approves
demolition of 1880s home

by CHRIS GRAY
Observer Staff Writer

      A historic home has been approved for demolition in order to make way for a memorial park.
       Following the Nov. 16 Village of Romeo Board of Trustees meeting, the council voted 4-2 in favor of the Romeo Lions Club's request to demolish a home from the 1880s. The club will demolish it as soon as possible and begin planning for a public park at the site.
       Village President Paul Reiz and Trustee Margaret Feldhus were the dissenting votes. Trustee Mike Cregar was not present for the meeting.
       Todd Walker, the Lions Club board member in charge of the grounds, approached the council to see if it would overrule the Historic District Commission's (HDC) decision to deny demolition.
       Using the historic reconnaissance survey as a guideline, the HDC determined in October that the house should remain standing since it contributes to the village's historic significance.
       The home, located at 149 S. Bailey St., was occupied last spring or summer, said Walker. He said the club has bought parcels bordering its Lions Field property for the past few years and has approached the village before to demolish two other homes.
       "Our plans as a club are to not extend carnival property, to not build a parking lot, to not let it overgrow with weeds," he said. "What we would like to see happen is some time in the near future working with Parks and Rec, working with the Village of Romeo to maybe put a park out there."
       He added the park would be built as a way to recognize former Lions Club members who have died.
       Reiz said he was supportive of the park idea, but didn't want to see Romeo lose another historic home and possible tax revenue source.
       "It's another historic asset that is going away," he said. "To me, some of these smaller homes are becoming extinct, and that was the basis of this whole community."
       Al Decker of AR Decker and Associates was hired by the Lions Club to examine the home. The structural engineer said the home was in such a dilapidated state due to frost and soil pressure and weak foundations that it couldn't be moved.
       "I think it would fall apart in the moving process," Decker said. "The construction itself was sub-standard back in the 1800s."
       Trustee Greg Jacobson, though he voted in favor of the demolition, wasn't satisfied with some of the reasons Decker listed for justifying demolition.
       "When somebody says it was sub-standard construction when it was built, then I start questioning the report because then we should tear down every house that was built before 1900," he said.
       Trustee Russell Rinke said he couldn't see the home being repaired.
       "While it is historic in nature, I wouldn't feel it's significantly contributing," he said. "It looks like an eyesore."