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Fate of historic Orson Welles prep school updated

October 21st, 2008 by Scott Marks

Two weeks ago I brought you this story concerning the possible demolition of the Todd School once attended by Orson Welles. My friend Matt Hoffman knows a couple who are present at the meetings in Woodstock, IL. They hope to preserve the historic landmark by turning it into a Welles museum.

Matt promised to keep me in the loop, so here is the latest dispatch. At Matt’s request, Jerry and Patty’s names have been changed.

“So, last night Patty went to a meeting of a few people who have been involved in the effort to preserve Grace Hall from demolition. There was one city council member, two members of the historic preservation commission and some concerned citizens. It turns out that both state and federal preservation bodies are now involved and will be visiting the site to determine whether it qualifies for landmarking status. She was told that an Illinois landmark status will not prevent it from being demolished, but a federal one would. In fact, if a non-profit—ostensibly what the Woodstock Christian Life Services (WCLS) is, though they don’t act like one—receives any federal funds whatsoever, they would be obligated to preserve the building. We believe WCLS receives Medicare payments, so this would qualify.

A few other interesting facts were learned. For instance, when we met with the WCLS president and his lawyer and HR guy at the ‘neighbors’ meeting a few weeks ago (the one where Patty was basically told to be quiet), the lawyer had ostentatiously told us that they were giving up $500,000 in rents when they decided to remove the third building that would have gone in our section of the development; I was rather annoyed when he said this because it had the ring of ‘You’d better be grateful for the sacrifice we’re making for you small group of people’, and it felt as if he were saying this so that we would then withdraw from any more activity in the situation. Turns out, they had to remove that building because where they wanted to put it was on a flood plain and YOU CAN’T BUILD ON A FLOOD PLAIN!! Just confirms my opinion of their jackass lawyer. Also, one of the members of the historic preservation commission has been banned by WCLS’ lawyer not only from Grace Hall, but from stepping foot on any part of the property! I’m sure now that they’ve been commanded to work collaboratively and professionally with city staff, the mayor will have this order rescinded.

Patty said the majority of the meeting was then taken up with the question: ‘If we had a magic wand and could cause WCLS to want to release the building to us, what would it take to do that, and what would you want to do with it?’ The ideas presented were the following:

1. Sell it to a corporation for offices or apartments.

2. Allow WCLS to adaptively re-use it for offices or apartments.

3. Turn it into an ‘innovation in education’ center that would teach the methods of Roger Hill, the founder of the Todd School for Boys.

4. Turn it into a Woodstock historical museum/tourist welcome center.

5. Turn it into some kind of community/performing arts center.

It seems to us, based on a number of factors, that option #4 would be the best. The city council member gave a long oration listing the huge number of significant (such as the inventor of the airbag) and famous (such as Welles) people who attended the school; one woman who was a longtime resident said that even she was not aware of all of those people. Roger Hill, the founder, was one of only five U.S. citizens invited by the government to tour and assess the damage after the bombing of Hiroshima. Amazing stuff. So, while the idea of it becoming strictly a Welles museum is somewhat attractive, the overwhelming weight of the combined history of all the people who attended would seem to argue in favor of it becoming something larger in scope.

Patty had to leave a little before the meeting ended, but she did get one more tantalizing detail: apparently the building is in pristine condition. The top floor is supposed to be just as it was the day the school closed. So, if and when a tour is arranged (and supposedly that is in the works, though it may only be for city staff) I will try to attend and take copious pictures.

That’s all for now……”

More at Wellesnet.

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School young Orson Welles attended faces the wrecking ball

October 4th, 2008 by Scott Marks

Click to enlarge

Young Orson attending the Tood School c.1930

A historic dorm for boys in Woodstock, IL once attended by prep school student Orson Welles is marked for demolition.

The Chicago Tribune reports, “the two-story residence hall was the center of campus life for Welles and hundreds of other students at Todd School for Boys, which operated from 1848 to 1954. It now serves as offices for Woodstock Christian Life Services, which wants to raze the 88-year-old building to make room for independent-living duplexes for seniors.”

“As a young fellow, Orson Welles would sit in the living room of Grace Hall and enthrall other students with his impromptu storytelling,” said Caryl Lemanski, 67, who was raised in the building, where her parents served as resident faculty.

“He would write scripts for radio shows in a basement sound studio.”

My friend and LaSalle Theatre successor Matt Hoffman has been keeping EC abreast of the situation. He writes that it looks pretty bleak for that Todds school and that there will be a vote on it Tuesday. He also enclosed portions of a letter detailing a Thursday night meeting which his friend Jerry attended with his wife, Patty. (The names have been changed to protect the innocent.)

As for our meeting, it was great at the beginning as they have made concessions to our criticisms, but it got bad when Patty decided to bring up what they were planning to do with the historic building. There were only six of us neighbors there, in this little conference room at the nursing home these guys run, so that was a little awkward anyway. When Patty started questioning why they were in such a hurry to do this, and started getting a little heated at the way they weren’t answering her questions, two of our old-lady neighbors started whispering to her that “you’re on a different mission”, and, “this isn’t the place for this”; then the HR guy from the home who was there started raising his voice about how Patty was being hypocritical because we had earlier agreed that our main concerns about their plans had to do with aesthetics, safety and privacy, and now she was bringing up this separate issue. Patty  apologized and said that she hadn’t realized this wasn’t the appropriate venue for this issue and sat down, and I could tell she was steaming. The lawyer didn’t help things by saying that if we got the building designated a landmark, and nobody else purchased it, they would just let it sit there and rot. Great, thanks.

Continue reading School young Orson Welles attended faces the wrecking ball

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