RESTORING AND RE-ADAPTING FOR MODERN USE
In 2013, the Forest Preserve Board funded a comprehensive study of the main headquarters/residence building that was conducted by Altusworks, Inc., an architectural design firm specializing in adaptations and restorations of historic buildings. The resulting report proved the building to be structurally sound and historically and architecturally significant. In addition, the firm collected public input that strongly supported re-adapting the compound of three buildings for public use that respected the historic importance of the site and took advantage of the location on the edge of the high-quality Churchill Woods Forest Preserve. Residents expressed interest in developing a multi-purpose education center that would also be available for meetings and special events.
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In 2017, the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, owners of the McKee site, entered into an intergovernmental agreement with the Village of Glen Ellyn that allows that community to lease both the McKee site and an adjoining site for salt storage. This agreement allows a not-for-profit organization, McKee Preservation Group, to raise funds to restore, re-adapt and renovate the McKee House facility for public use, under the oversight of a Village of Glen Ellyn committee. However, the conversion of the site to a usable facility will be complicated by the need to repair more recent damage caused by neglect and disuse.
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McKee Preservation Group has committed to raising $100,000 over the spring/summer of 2018 to fund stabilization of the main structure. Plans include construction of a historically accurate wood shingle roof and necessary repairs to 2nd floor dormers and trim that have sustained water damage as well as other work that should be done as soon as possible to halt further damage.
