Pure Oil Building Drive-Through Plan Goes to Plan Commission Thursday

Geneva's Plan Commission has three big items on the Aug. 9 agenda, including a public hearing on the plans for a drive-through banking facility at the historic Pure Oil Building on State Street.

Three interesting items grace the Geneva Plan Commission agenda for Thursday, Aug. 9, including a look at plans for a drive-through facility at the former Pure Oil Building. Thomas Hansen of St. Charles Bank & Trust Co. will ask the advisory commission to approve a request for a special use permit that will allow a drive-through at the historic building which escaped demolition after a public outcry earlier this year. In addition to the special use, St. Charles Bank & Trust is asking for a zoning ordinance amendment to reduce the required number of "stacking spaces" per drive-through lane from five spaces to three spaces. The properties in question include much of the block, from 502 to 514 W. State St. as well as 12 S. Fifth St. In …

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Visions for Vacancies

What Should Fill the Pure Oil Building?

Visions for Vacancies: What should fill a filling station? The Pure Oil building dates back to the 1930s, but should it be preserved or redeveloped?

  There is no pure solution to the problem of how to develop the former Pure Oil Building property at 524 W. State St. On one hand, you have a building with a limited square footage—not enough to attract most retail businesses. It's a building without insulation and a facade that is falling apart in places. It was built in the 1930s, heated with steam, and its owner, Joe Stanton, says it would cost $360,000 to restore. And that's if there were a buyer out there who would want to spend that kind of money. On the other hand, you have one of the few remaining "English cottage" style gas stations built by the Pure Oil Company in the 1920s and '30s. Many of the remaining stations are on national, state and local registers of historic places—and…

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Tooth Fairy

8:23 pm on Sunday, April 1, 2012

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Committee Upholds Pure Oil Decision

Property owner's appeal denied amid strong opposition to plan that included demolition of historic building.

Upholding Geneva's historic integrity still outweighs the financial issues faced by the owner of the Pure Oil property on State Street. The City Council's Committee of the Whole sent that message Monday night when it upheld the Historic Presentation Commission's February decision to deny developer Joe Stanton's plan for the land at 502 W. State. The committee, after more than three hours of testimony and debate, voted 7-3 to back the HPC decision, with aldermen Sam Hill, Richard Marks and Dawn Vogelsberg unsuccessfully voting to move the appeal to the City Council. Stanton has proposed a move to put a bank drive-through on the property and, in doing so, tearing down the Pure Oil Building. The HPC shot down the idea in a 5-1 vote, …

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Terry Flanagan

2:31 pm on Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Colin, This sounds like a great idea. It might be worth considering taking this concept to SPAC and forming a sub-committee to deal with saving not only this particular property, but others that may be facing demolition in the future. Preserving Geneva's jhistory and charm is a theme that runs throughout the SPAC goals and this would seem to fit in with those goals perfectly. SPAC has primarily …   more ›

Committee of the Whole to Hear Appeal on Pure Oil Decision

Meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight at City Hall.

The City Council's Committee of the Whole will hear an appeal tonight on the rejected plans that include demolition of the Pure Oil Building. Last month, the Historic Preservation Commission rejected a developer's plans to tear down the building in the 500 block of West State Street to make way for a bank. Click here to see the entire agenda for tonight's meeting. The 129-page background information packet can be found here.

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QuickStory: HPC Votes 5-1 Against Demolishing Pure Oil Building

Geneva's Historic Preservation Commission recommends that the city does not grant a demolition permit for the present home of The PURE Gardener.

With the applause of about 50 passionate spectators, Geneva's Historic Preservation Commission voted 5-1 Tuesday to deny demolition of the former Pure Oil gas station, today's home of The PURE Gardener, at 502 W. State St. The six-member recommending body voted against a request for a demolition permit despite a thorough case made by property owner Joe Stanton, commercial architect Jeffrey Lietz and St. Charles Bank & Trust President Tom Hansen that an adaptive reuse of the property simply was not a viable option. Stanton developed at least five separate plans since 2007 that would have kept the historic building intact. The third iteration—to restore the outside of the existing building and modernize the interior—would require a $360,000 …

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Terry Flanagan

1:56 pm on Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Tearing down an historic building to build a bank just doesn't seem to be the most creative option for this property. I'm sure Joe has worked diligently to find a use for the property that wouldn't bankrupt him, but a bank? We have almost two dozen banking facilities in Geneva and our population is under 22,000, a third of whom are under the age of 18. At what point do we reach saturation? You …   more ›