Goodwood (West of Green & Mercantile) moves toward local designation; commission plans virtual log-cabin tour

Preservation staff member Tanya told the commission that the West of Green and Mercantile building (now referred to as the Goodwood building) went through a first reading as an ordinance on March 28 and is scheduled for a second reading on April 10 at city council. "Provided that passes through city council without an issue, we will be able to designate them," Tanya said, noting a separate National Register nomination remains pending.

Commissioners discussed reconvening the O'Fallon designation subcommittee (previously formed) to prioritize one or two houses for local designation and to prepare preliminary paperwork. Staff emphasized property owners must provide historical documentation for nominations; commissioners agreed to restart the subcommittee and coordinate meeting times.

On the log-cabin project, staff described plans to produce a virtual tour for visitors who cannot visit the real cabin, and said the cabin cannot currently be opened to the public because it is not ADA-compliant. Tanya said code enforcement and facilities staff will identify modest upgrades to make the building safe for volunteers, and Volunteer Services will handle volunteer sign-ups once the work is cleared. "We're going to do a virtual log cabin... for the people that can't get there," Tanya said.

The commission agreed to move forward with outreach to interested property owners for nominations, to schedule the designation-subcommittee meeting, and to coordinate volunteers and an inspection for the log-cabin project.

Next steps: staff will schedule the subcommittee meeting, request a code-enforcement inspection for the log cabin, and circulate volunteer sign-up instructions after Volunteer Services approves the project plan.