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Commissioners say February staff letter understates civic center's historic value
Summary
Commissioners reviewed a February 20 letter sent by city staff to federal reviewers and several said the letter's assertions — that the civic center has outlived its usefulness and that rehabilitation would cost more — do not reflect the commission's view and warrant further review.
Commissioners said they were seeing the February 20 staff letter about the Urbana Civic Center for the first time at the meeting and expressed surprise that the commission had not been consulted. One commissioner noted the letter on city letterhead was provided in the packet and the email transmittal with cc lines was attached.
"The idea that the civic center has outlived its usefulness, I also disagree with strongly," said a commissioner (S6) after reading the letter aloud. Several commissioners disputed other points in the transmittal, including assessments of the building's condition and the assumption that rehabilitation would be costlier than alternatives. They asked for time to review the documentation, suggested site visits, and proposed drafting formal comments to the Department of Transportation and SHPO as a consulting party.
Commissioners discussed assembling local expertise to compare the staff/consultant assessments with community knowledge and student-studio proposals and recommended that the commission consider landmarking or other formal measures if warranted. Staff confirmed the city owns the property and that no binding agreement exists with the proposing transit agency, which the commission said changes how it should frame advice to federal reviewers.
