The above was written to me privately and I am witholding the writers name. Those of you who know me realize that I have tried to prevent Peru from destroying what little they have left of buildings that are a part of our history without any success. It always seems that the people who are control in this town would rather hire a bulldozer instead of a preservationist.
I'm sure there is asbestos in the old Power Plant and I am also sure that there is undisturbed asbestos in other old buildings in Peru. That is not a reason to sell it for destruction for $1.00.
Every so often the topic of What Should We Do With Water Street comes up? At present there are just a couple of businesses operating and in spite of all the odds, they are doing well and are an asset to our city. The possibility of flooding always will exist but this is not a yearly event and recently has been coped with very well.
I have always admired the architecture of the old power plant and it seems a shame to have it taken down as it is one of the bright spots you can see when traveling on 251 north and you look down toward Peru.
I am also aware that the city of Peru and those in power have never had an appreciation of the history of Peru and I cannot think of one building they have tried to preserve. I don't know how much they have tried to market this building as I have never heard it discussed at a meeting. There was plenty of talk about the Mirror building while it sat empty for years but seldom anything about other historic assets we might have.
I guess about the only buildings in Peru that might fall into being a part of our history are the several churches located south of Shooting Park Rd. and the Post Office. This is becoming like a city without a past.
27 comments:
I believe Mr. Schweickert also questioned as to whether or not the north portion of the building is not structurally supporting the hillside.
Here we go again.
Another issue after reading the paper of the minutes of the city council meeting , The Mayor did not stand up for the city but agreed with the aldermen Wren to knock down for $1 because "there PROBABLY will be some asbestos and you know that will cost a few thousand of dollars to clean up".
These were the Mayors comments and that is the Mayor we have, "the hell with the city" attitude.
Frankly I am getting pretty sick of his attitude and his decisions .
You question the efforts of the City officials to market the Peru Power Plant on Water Street by stating you have never heard it discussed at a meeting. I believe that it has been discussed, prove me wrong if you can by reviewing the minutes of the city council meetings. Would you elaborate on the significance on being listed on the state structures list as a historical building?
What impact would the tearing down of this building have on the businesses of Water Street? I don't believe the building creates any foot traffic on the street.
I can not understand how you can personally qualify the Mirror Building as a historic asset as it is not quite 21 years of age yet, just a little short of legal drinking age.
The only difference between the Peru Electric Plant and the Westclox five (5) story building is that one is being utilized or they should both be tore down.
$1.00 sounds like a fair deal, again prove me wrong and get someone to make a significant investment and do something with the building.
3:27PM
You have a very short memory because that was exactly the attitude of Mayor Baker when he chose to tear down any building that was in his way to build 'New". Don't you remember when they had to stop tearing down the Turn Hall because the city had not taken care of the asbestos problem and was just dumping the dismantled building into our landfill. Honestly I could write a book about the destruction of our town under Mayor Bakers reign.
3:27PM
I will not comment on most of your post because I do not speak for the city.
I will correct you on the Mirror Bldg because I never said it had any historic value, I was only comparing empty buildings. As far as the Mirror bldg and what is called the East Plaza, I do not believe they add one tiny bit to our downtown. Put Maude elsewhere near to a newly erected band shell structure and open up the street to encourage business. Most of the time the only residents on the courtyard are birds and squirrels.
the last comment should have been addressed to 3:28PM
Ald. Wren and Super Bleck did say that the costs of knocking the Power House was huge. It was used just a few years ago prior to the new electric offices. How is that compared to the Turn HALL. The turn hall was a private source of ownership and the city had no lawful resolve, until they rightfully acquired ownership and took the action. All old buildings has Asbetos and the point is that the it cost money to remove the asbetos. Also remember tha lawsuit in which the city was sued because of a fatality along the area in which the building stands. The fact remains that all unattended buildings or properties are a liability for our citizens. Renovation of this property may be worthwhile in riverfronts or lakeviews in Chicago or some other area, but are worthless in Peru. I agree with the direction of the City council. And quite frankly we were very fortunate to have a owner like the Waterstreet Pub that invested his money and time into something that is popular. Same with Brandy's. Remember these were private ownerships not city owned. I know you and many council members have a memory of the old company that was at the corner across from the Red Door. What a EPA disaster that was! So be happy the place is going to the dumps. Its called progress.
Anon 4:48 Direct quote from "what is the Future for Once Historic Water Street". "There was plenty of talk about the Mirror building while it sat empty for years but seldom anything about other historic assets we might have".
The word OTHER definitely insinuates that you believe the Mirror Building has historical significance.
Possibly a 101 course in say what you mean and mean what you say would be appropriate.
Too write a eight paragraph comment on a subject and than answer with I will not comment on most of your post because I do not speak for the city is actually saying I will not back myself up with facts.
If this property has not been discussed at a meeting how could it be sold? Is it the small financial amount $1.00 - because the scrap value will be of a much greater amount. A good example of the worth of scrap would be a total dollar amount accumulated at the Peru Landfill in the years of its existence.
The discussion of the sale of this building must be in the minutes of a city meeting hopefully conducted at the Peru Municipal Building. This building has cost the taxpayers enough why would city business be taken anywhere else?
Apparently most of you regularly go to the meetings and memorize everything they have to say...For those of us that do not, we were left out of the loop. When are we to put in our input?
How much has this cost the taxpayers? They made it sound as if very little had been expended on the building since it had been shut down roughly 10 years ago...
I think the point was that it is a perfectly usable building that is not used, and thus why tear it down? Why should the lack of immediate utilization (or even the lack of bids that have been put out since the economy went sour) be a reason for the destruction of a building? The present "worthlessness" should not imply future "worthlessness." Your Westclox example proves this.
And there are so few buildings left on Water Street. To even get a feel for what it once was is difficult and will be even more impossible once the power plant is gone. Once gone, it is gone forever.
I'll miss the big ol' PERU sign.
The building may not be appreciated because it is "like so many others"...but it full of local significance.
10:40 PM
To express your view, call the Mayor at
1-815-223-1148 or email sharlmayor@peru.il.us
I would hope the council will realize they may be able to have their cake and eat it too if they consider allowing this scavenger to remove the asbestos, scrap the contents of value to him and leave the gutted structure for possible future use or sale by the city.
If the contractor can remove what he wants and remove the asbesos without compromising the integrity of the building it could once again become a useful and valuable asset to the city.
What an excellent idea Steve. It sounds like something that should be looked into and probably mentioned to the council. If feasible it could satisfy all parties involved. Do you think any of the aldermen would suggest such an idea?
What contents of value are in the Peru Power Plant? How many pounds copper at $4.00's and some cents per pound? What are the electrical contacts in the plant made of? At one time they were made of gold. What is in the switchgear room of value?
Who has professionally appraised the worth of this plant and its equipment? What form of publications have been utilized to inquire about the desire of some entity to purchase the Peru Power Plant? What real estate firm has been approached to market it?
Why , with the price of scrap skyrocketing are the city officials so impatient to empty this building?
7:28PM
My questions are the same as yours. Why would this company go through all this work if there was not anything of value in the building.
I don't believe there is anybody working for the city of Peru that would have the expertise to do an appraisal and the city would in effect give the store away just because it is sitting there and not in use.
I guess I jumped to the wrong conclusion. I assumed someone on the council had had the contents appraised and the cost of cleaning out the asbestos evaluated. I also assumed this would be beneficial to the city but Lois and anon 7:28 have raised doubt in my mind. I guess one should not assume anything and should ask questions before forming an opinion. It's just that questions and answers like this don't seem to occur during our council meetings.
Maybe the motivational factor to empty the Peru Power Plant is that it has already been emptied? In a city that a question of a bribe is confused with a thank you I would not be surprised by any acts of dishonesty.
Bottom line....we need to know if there is any value "within" the building itself....if it has been raped and all scrap value taken out then where is the accounting that shows the dollar value gleaned and where the money was spent. If it has not been touched - the possible scrap value needs to be assessed by a professional. We cannot expect that someone willing to purchase the building for whatever would not expect to make a dollar (or two). What has to be weighed is it cheaper in the long run for us to let someone else do this demolition or should we be contracting it out ourselves. I would say we do not have the expertise within our city workers and their supervisors.
Bottom line I am questioning this only because recent history has shown that there is more missing information regarding the accounts and accountability within Peru politics. It seems I have become suspect of everything!!!
In conclusion wouldn't it have been financially better to have had a city engineer on payroll?
Lois I posted pictures from when I toured the building in 2009 and from my understanding there is/was an abundance of scrap metal present.
7:28 p.m. & 10:18 a.m. - You make some very good points and ask some interesting questions. I am going to take a good look at the Power House and its contents very soon. I will report what I find out asap.
10:18 - Regarding your question about having a City Engineer on the city payroll as an employee. My opinion is that a well qualified, highly trained "young" PE, "Professional Engineer" with a few years of real world work experience would save the city of Peru a minimum of $100,000 annually in "engineering consultant fees" that we currently pay Chamlin and others.
There are some very good pictures of the contents of the Power House on Kristy's blog. I'm just not sure how current they are.
If a city engineer would save us money, and while we're supposedly looking for ways to save money, why has this issue not been pursued? Surely our 8 sitting aldermen cannot be opposed to this issue - can they? If so, what would be their reason? Let's start looking toward the future and make the necessary changes to improve our city and our finances.
Change: those are some very nice pictures. Do we know if the equipment is still intact and in the building as of today?
To 1:53 p.m. - Great question. I believe the issue has not been "seriuosly" pursued because of the "friendly relationship" between the majority of aldermen and Roger Chamlin and other Chamlin employees. Unfortunately,it's just that simple. During the past seven years that I have regularly attended council meetings there have been a total of two occasions that an alderman had suggested the "possibility" of having an actual "City Engineer" on the payroll. That Alderman was Ron Wren. Of course the discussion went nowhere fast as the other aldermen had very little to contribute to that discussion. They apparently did not want to go on record in open meeting in the presence of Roger. The one thing I do recall about the limited discussion was a "bizarre" exchange between Alderman O'Beirne, Alderman Mikyska, and Roger Chamlin where Jack O'Beirne actually asked Roger if he thought the city should have an engineer on the payroll. I'm not kidding. O'Beirne and Mikyska asked Roger Chamlin to "advise them" if "they" should consider such a thing. It was a priceless council moment. To his credit, Roger was obviously embarrassed by the question and he responded diplomatically saying it all depended on the capabilities and training of the engineer.
Shortly after Mayor Harl took office he asked the city council to consider the benefits of an In-House Engineer. The mayor informed the aldermen he believed the city should have an engineer on staff. No more than two aldermen supprted that idea and it died a quick death without so much as a committee recommendation.
That is what we are up against.
Well, something I heard last night has convinced me we desperately need a city manager and a city engineer. Last year we spent $90,000 on our curb program plus an additional $40,000 on engineering fees. Doesn't this seem a little ridiculous to any of our aldermen or does it go right over their heads?
Roger Chamlin has been asked if he thought if a city engineer would save the city money at a council meeting in which he replied that yes that that was a possibility but that the city would no longer have a staff of 30 some engineers as his firm made available to the city. Has the City of Peru ever had the need of 30 some engineers at one time from Chamlins?
Mayor Harl,shortly after the election, went out of town on a Saturday to interview Public Works Superintendent candidates and City Engineer candidates. The following Monday at the city council meeting he informed the aldermen that he had made his choice for each position and that he was going to introduce them at the following meeting - Wednesday night.
Alderman Ferrari asked the Mayor "Where did this idea even come from"? "We don't even have a ordinance for a city engineer", was his next comment. Mayor Harl replied that "We have been talking about this Alderman". You must realize that there was a lot more to this for Alderman Ferrari to become so upset as he did. The balance of the rest of the council also made sure that this idea of the Mayors died a quick death.
The saying many years ago was bet on the Yankees, Joe Louis, and Notre Dame. Today the saying is no matter how good a idea Mayor Harl has the Peru City Council will band together against it. Their mission is not to help Peru, but to oppose Mayor Scott Harl.
This is what Peru is up against and it must be ended on April 5th!
To 11:05 a.m. - You make a great point. The engineering fees for this "Curb" program have for many years been a Set-Aside presented to King Engineering courtesy of Don Baker and never opposed or even questioned by any of the current aldermen. I agree that the engineering fees for this program seem excessive. I beleive the engineering work for this program could be accomplished in-house for much less than $40,000.
I took the pictures of the inside of the power plant around October 2009.
If I recall (and this is ONLY by a vague memory) there may be a CSO located behind/near the plant and let's not forget about the road situation and collapsed sewer in front of the building.
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