Historic McKee House at Risk Again

In early spring of 2006, Citizens for Glen Ellyn Preservation rallied to save the original headquarters of the DuPage County Forest Preserve from demolition. Three historic structures that were the site of the very origin of the forest preserves in our county were at risk. These were the forest preserve headquarters and superintendant’s residence, guard house and well house. Built in 1936 of native limestone that was cut from quarries in Naperville, the buildings were constructed by local men on relief in the Civilian Conservation Corps, most stationed at Camp MacDowell between Naperville and Warrenville. (The CCC also built the Lake Ellyn boat house.) The project was completely funded by the WPA. Located on St Charles Road between Glen Ellyn and Lombard on the edge of the Churchill Woods Forest Preserve, the graceful Colonial Revival structures were designed by Elmhurst architect Harold Koleman.
 
The combination residence and headquarters building is known as the Mckee house, after Robert McKee, the forest preserve’s first superintendant who is also the namesake for McKee Marsh on the border of Warrenville. McKee was instrumental in acquiring thousands of acres of land that the forest preserve now holds, was an early environmentalist, directing large reforestation projects in the preserves and was a proponent of clean water. He was an active supporter of the boy scouts and later worked with Eagle Scouts in building trails in the preserves.

In September of 2006, Forest Preserve Commissioner Mike Formento made a last minute save, finessing a deal with the DuPage Housing Authority to repurpose the buildings to create housing for retired veterans. They were leased to the DHA for $1 for two years and the lease was extended for two more in 2008. CGEP backed down from its effort to save the buildings and its members, McKee family descendants, and the press were allowed to tour the building interiors. All were pleased that while the home undoubtedly needed to be reroofed, the interior was in excellent condition with original windows, trim and doors still with their original stain and varnish intact and freshly painted rooms upstairs. The DHA was to make improvements, renovate parts of the interior and agreed to pursue landmarking the property.  In April of 2006 the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency had identified the house as a good candidate for the National Register of Historic Places.
 
By the end of 2010, things began to go sour at the DuPage Housing Authority, resulting in a financial scandal with allegedly millions in federal funds misspent. The lease for the McKee house and outbuildings expired at the end of December and will not be renewed by that agency.  None of the planned repairs or improvements had been started on the site.

This May, knowing the reluctance on the part of the Forest Preserve Board to save its ownhistory, the board of CGEP voted unanimously to again pursue saving the buildings, with the intent of stabilizing the structures and then building a partnership to restore, landmark and repurpose this important forest preserve asset. Members of CGEP met recently with forest preserve commissioner Mike Formento and forest preserve staff to discuss possible steps. At this meeting it was revealed that the roof had not been repaired and that the buildings had remained unheated for the last five years, resulting in enough interior damage to greatly increase necessary restoration work.

Currently, an emergency grant from the National Trust is being sought by CGEP for the purpose of a thorough analysis of the structures by a preservation architect. Members of the CGEP board and representatives of local government and not-for-profits will meet in the next couple of weeks to discuss future steps for this important piece of DuPage County history.

Now, due to negotiations between Glen Ellyn and Lombard to reconfigure their shared borders, these buildings will be within the planning district of our village. This wonderful architecture, combined with its idyllic setting, has great potential for use by the public, whether as a forest preserve center that relates to its wooded site and environmental origins, or as a rental facility or offices for a local government body or not-for-profit organization. 

Its loss would be another blow to the historic character of our community and a terrible waste of an irreplaceable asset to this district of the forest preserve. 

We will continue to update you regarding the potential demolition of the Mckee House. In the meantime, we urge you to contact our Forest Preserve commissioners, village governments and others to encourage them to save these remarkable buildings for  the residents of our county.

Email contacts for the Forest Preserve Commissioners:
D. Dewey Pierotti Jr., President  dpierotti@dupageforest.com
Marsha Murphy, District 1  mmurphy@dupageforest.com
Joseph Cantore, District 2  jcantore@dupageforest.com
Linda Painter, District 3  lpainter@dupageforest.com
Michael Formento, District 4  mformento@dupageforest.com