A local developer known for residential and commercial projects has stepped forward to help the St. Charles Historical Society buy a building to be its new home.
Society President Sam Santell said Geneva-based developer Kent Shodeen bought the former St. Charles Savings and Loan building downtown for $390,000 at an auction last week on behalf of the society.
Within the next three to six months, the society plans to buy the building from Shodeen and move its operation, museum and materials there from its home for the last 50 years inside City Hall, he said.
“We were looking for a benefactor because we were having trouble negotiating the purchase ourselves,” Santell said.
The shuttered two-story building at 2nd and Walnut Streets was owned by Old Kent Bank, which bought it from the Resolution Trust Corp., the U.S. agency charged with bailing out failed savings and loans.
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The society’s museum, library and offices have been housed in a 1,600-square-foot room on the ground floor at the north end of City Hall since the building opened in 1940.
But a needs assessment study for the society this year found it could use about 12,000 square feet to operate, store all its artifacts and maintain its displays.