The following comes from McHenry County Historical Preservation Commission Chairman Jim McConnell in a comment under the story:
McHenry County Historical Commission Chairman Justifies Coventry House Support by McHenry County Board
Coventry House, Harvard
“County Board Chairman Jack Franks wrote a letter yesterday to the attorney for Edward Harvard Holdings, purporting to apologizing for my advocacy encouraging the County Board to move forward with enforcement of its ordinance landmarking Coventry Farmstead.
“Let me be clear:
I do not apologize for my advocacy – that is what the County Board appointed me to do.
Chairman Franks has no authority to apologize foe me.
“I do not understand the cowardice of Chairman Franks and the PED Committee in repeatedly delaying action on the Commission’s recommendation for enforcement.
“If they are against enforcement, they should vote down our recommendation.
“If they favor preservation, they should vote in favor of enforcement.
“Further postponement is an act of cowardice, and completely unwarranted in the face of Edward Harvard Holdings’ empty promises of investment in the former Motorola campus.”
The Motorola campus.
“The people of Harvard and McHenry County are going to end up with a demolished landmark and a windswept, crumbling, vacant industrial complex.”
Here’s a better question, would you rather have more jobs or have one house?
Here is an even better question:
How much money are they giving Franks?
Here’s an even better Question.
who is responsible for this fiasco …
I would think that with all the money that changed hands..some of that money would have or should have been. set aside to cover a situation like this…
But I guess it was more important to make sure that certain relatives received long term well paid jobs with pensions …
then expect the tax payer to pick up the tab….
This house should be preserved as a landmark and the person who sold it and the company who bought it should pay the expenses…………..
So many questions, so little time.
What is the point of having this physical building vs high quality framed photographs of it hanging on a wall in a museum?
Let all of those, including the McHenry County Board Members, who support the preservation of this building set up a fund to renovate the building and provide for 50 years of maintenance and real estate taxes.
I think that swamp buggy is Mike Walkup.
Mike, closed his campaign account on September 28 and looted all the money and took it for himself.
All campaign contributions are readily searchable and, before Mike makes baseless allegations about contributions, he ought to look them up and quit disparaging people.
Franks has zero dollars from Chinese developers on his D2’s.
Insinuating he does is slander and an outright lie.
Let’s leave it to the amateur President and his campaign to make those mistakes.
The relevant point seems to me that a property owner is enjoying selective Non-enforcement of county code.
It is absurd to divert with illogical argument that this property owner, who (according to prior post by Mr. McConnell) has already failed to perform on certain terms of Enterprise Zone contractual agreement, would use enforcement of a 6figure contractual obligation as excuse to cause an 8 figure deal to blow up.
I prefer a high quality framed portrait of our sunshine blogger in a museum…of useless trash. Tic, tock, tic, tock…
The house is a white elephant. I’ve always wondered why one of the previous property owners hasn’t just sold it cheap to the County or the City of Harvard.
Maybe one of the previous owners has tried, and nobody wanted to step up and be responsible for the upkeep.
I’m all for preservation, but I don’t think it’s reasonable to force private property owners to spend a bunch of their own money on it.
Let those who want to save the building buy it from the present owner with private donations and then set up a fund with private donations only, no taxpayer money, to maintain it and pay the real estate taxes.
US$534 Billion Removed From American Economy by the likes of H-1B crooks like Edward Harvard Holdings LLC. This smells of John McCain.
http://harvardwoodstockenterprisezone.com/benefits/
That property received TIF incentives when established, and reneged on its contractual obligations to in turn establish and maintain jobs.
The property is now receiving Enterprise Zone incentives, and allegedly reneging on its end of the contract to comply with County Code.
Are arguments above indicating that ALL non-residential property owners should be excempt from compliance eith county code, or just those properties receiving special publicly funded tax incentives?
Re: “County Board Chairman Jack Franks wrote a letter yesterday to the attorney for Edward Harvard Holdings, purporting to apologizing for my advocacy”
Go back in time and check out who screamed the loudest relative to ‘getting’ back the tax incentives given to Motorola when they closed the plant.
I think it was the guy who has been proven to be a liar and described as the “round mound”.
Now he wants to “kiss up” to the Chinese holding company?
Mindless bickering over a worthless dilapidated house, comical!
Perhaps Foxcon can use the windswept, crumbling and vacant industrial complex?
Really people, this place was a stupid idea from day one with Motorola.
In case you all missed it, toothless ordinance enforcement:
http://www.nwherald.com/2017/10/10/mchenry-county-department-of-health-orders-harvard-area-resident-to-clean-up-garbage-piled-on-property/ahql4o4/
Harvard, IL 1960: https://i1.wp.com/blogs.ncte.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/1960s-classroom.jpg
Harvard, IL 2017: https://thesuperblackworldof.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/black-mexican.jpg