Crystal Lake council grants conditional landmark status to Academy building after months of debate

The Crystal Lake City Council voted Oct. 21 to grant landmark status to the Crystal Lake Academy building and its iron fence — but with conditions that aim to remove the structure from Trinity Episcopal Church’s campus if the community can secure relocation funding.

Supporters, led by Diana Kenny and Jim Heisler, urged the council to protect the 210 S. McHenry Ave. structure from demolition and called it integral to the city’s history. “This building has been standing long before any of us were here,” Diana Kenny said in her presentation, citing the City of Crystal Lake Historic Preservation Ordinance (adopted 04/16/1996) and the Historic Preservation Commission’s unanimous recommendation.

Representatives of Trinity Episcopal Church, speaking through Craig Bridal and church representative Scott Zaucha, opposed forced landmarking. Bridal said landmarking would saddle the congregation with maintenance obligations and divert limited church resources from its mission. Zaucha outlined practical impacts: higher insurance and security costs for a vacant building and uncertainty whether an adaptive reuse tenant could be found.

A task force that formed after an earlier hearing presented a short-term plan to make the building watertight and raised an opinion-of-probable-cost estimate of roughly $28,984 for near-term repairs. Amanda Marshall, representing the task force, said the group had secured about $21,000 in pledges and nearly $3,000 in cash and asked council for time and a path to raise the remaining funds to preserve the building in place while pursuing longer-term reuse or relocation.

Council members pressed both sides on feasibility and permanence. Some members, citing the building’s location “in the middle” of church property and the financial burden on the congregation, favored finding a way to relocate the structure; others emphasized stewardship and the Historic Preservation Commission’s findings.

After multiple failed and withdrawn motions and detailed discussion of enforcement mechanisms (certificates of appropriateness and appeals to city council), members coalesced around a conditional approval. The final motion — adopted by roll call — grants landmark status provided that within 30 days an interested party submits a written commitment to move the building, and the building is relocated by April 30, 2026. If those conditions are not met, the landmark designation will be brought back to council for reconsideration.

Council also approved landmark status for the iron fence separately earlier in the meeting.

What happens next: the task force and historic preservation groups said they will continue fundraising and outreach. Church representatives said they would cooperate with requests for documentation (3-D imaging, salvage of architectural features) but reiterated concerns about long-term liability and who ultimately bears costs if relocation or reuse cannot be achieved.

The council’s conditional approval attempts to balance historic stewardship with respect for private-property ownership and operational needs of Trinity Episcopal Church; the designation can be revisited if the move and associated commitments do not materialize by the stated deadlines.