 The Old House Society has been a Bloomington institution for 34
years. It started as a social group whose membership got together to
discuss restoration of old and historic houses. They saw old houses
being demolished with no attempt to save valuable parts to be
repurposed by people who were restoring houses. The group decided to
start the Old House Society as a registered nonprofit tasked with
saving parts of houses before they ended up in a landfill.From
that beginning, the Old House Society has grown into a large
undertaking with a 6,000-square-foot warehouse containing everything
the staff and volunteers have been able to save when they are
allowed to access a house scheduled for demolition. The warehouse in
Bloomington is stocked with flooring, doors, headboards and
fireplace tile, just to name a few items. They also have a large
store of hardware from old houses.
But the Old House Society is much more than a repository of
unique and hard-to-find items for restorers.
People who are demolishing houses and give parts to the Old House
Society become eligible for significant tax credits, up to $5,000.
In addition, the society gives grants to those restoring old houses,
and members receive a 10 percent discount at the store.
The Old House Society also gives clinics at their warehouse, at
214 E. Douglas in Bloomington. People seeking to restore can learn
the skills necessary to bring their old house back to its original
glory.
Walden also pointed out that they have a "Second Thursday" event
each month. Wine and hors d'oeuvres are served at a
house that is undergoing restoration, including an on-site tour of a
work in progress.
Completed restorations are given a "Gift to the Street" award in
the form of a bronze plaque that can be placed on the house, noting
the original construction year.
The Old House Society also offers a helping hand to other
nonprofits that can benefit from their expertise.
The society's annual house tour sells out every year. It has
become such a popular event in Bloomington that tickets are being
limited this year to 1,000.
The organization also loans items from their inventory to schools
that want to use them in plays and class presentations.
The society will also sell non-architectural items they salvage
from houses, and all of the proceeds are given to the owner.
Walden pointed out that many of the old house items they sell go
into new houses, not just restorations. There is a growing trend to
incorporate old items into new houses to give a new home the feel of
an old one. Pocket doors, doors, headboards and windows used for
wall decoration are especially popular.
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The Old House Society operates in a large area of central
Illinois, not just Bloomington. They will go to the Peoria area and
locations east of Bloomington. They maintain additional storage
space in Lexington.
With all of their activity, Walden said that getting the word out
about the Old House Society is still a problem. People tearing down
old houses may not know about the society, or they may think that
their soon-to-be-demolished house may not have anything worth
salvaging.
Walden begs anyone thinking about demolishing a house to contact
the Old House Society and let them make the call on items worth
saving. When the society hauls off items worth saving and reusing,
they save homeowners the cost of having these items hauled to the
landfill, and also save landfill space.
"The Old House Society was into recycling before it became
popular," Walden said.
Walden herself lives in a tiny 1859 house that she restored in
Lexington. "I have also restored several old houses in Bloomington,"
she said. In fact, that is how she became familiar with the Old
House Society. She bought items from them for her own projects. One
thing led to another and now she is head of the organization.
Her personal doorknob collection was on display during her
presentation in Lincoln.
"I even frequent pawnshops trying to find vintage doorknobs I
can't do without," she said with a laugh.
Walden wants to get the word out that no house should be
demolished before the owner contacts the Old House Society. Their
experts can spot parts of houses worth saving, even if an owner may
not see an architectural gem. They can see a door worth saving that
is lurking under five coats of paint. A complete spiral staircase
may be their most unusual item in inventory now. Her story of how
that was removed intact from a house was an adventure in itself.
The Old House Society is headquartered in Bloomington at 214 E.
Douglas. The phone number is 309-820-0548, and the website is
www.oldhousesociety.org.
The Logan County Genealogical & Historical Society, which hosted
Walden's presentation in Lincoln, meets monthly on the third Monday
at 6:30 p.m. at their research facility on Chicago Street. Volunteer
members also provide research for people from all over the United
States who may have had relatives in the Logan County area. The
group is currently working on a request for research from a person
in Salt Lake City. The nominal fee they charge for this research
goes into maintaining their research facility and a growing
collection of Logan County historic artifacts.
[By
CURT FOX] |
