Correction: Pure Oil Building Nominated for National Register of Historic Places—HPC Vote Tuesday

Geneva's Pure Oil Building has been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, and Geneva's Historic Preservation Commission has been asked to give its seal of approval in a vote Tuesday.

According to the HPC agenda packet, "the former Pure Oil Service State has been recommended for consideration under National Register Criterion C as a representative property possessing “distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction.”

The meeting takes place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15, at City Hall.

The HPC is a recommending body, so the full City Council would have to approve the action. That has to be done prior to Feb. 22, when the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council is scheduled to review the case.

The owner of the Pure Oil Station property will be able to use the 20 percent investment tax credit that is "available to rehabilitation projects that are listed, or deemed eligible for listing, in the National Register of Historic Places," the city staff report said.

Joe Stanton formerly owned the property but sold it in September, Stanton confirmed Monday, Jan. 14.

City staff supports the nomination "as a logical step in the preservation of the landmark structure."

Construction work on the property began in November. Plans call for the former gas station at 502 W. State St. to be converted into a drive-through facility for the St. Charles Bank & Trust, which would move into the building to the west, 514 W. State St. building.

According to previous plans, work on the 514 W. State St. building was to include adding features that echo details of historic architecture, according to previous reports.

In April, Stanton had sought to demolish the Pure Oil building, saying it was unfit for an adaptive reuse. The Historic Preservation Commission denied the demolition permit, and the decision was upheld by the City Council following a loud public outcry for the building's preservation.

The building is one of the few remaining Pure Oil Company "English cottage" style gas stations constructed in the 1920s and '30s and is deemed "significant" by the Geneva Historic District and "contributing" by the National Historic District.

Editor's note: This article is corrected from the original version, which said Joe Stanton is the owner of the property. 

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