On Wednesday, March 11, the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois announced that the historic Mumford House, the oldest building on the UIUC campus, would not be relocated.  Instead, the house will be rehabilitated on its original, South Quad site.

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois discussed the proposed relocation of the Mumford House at the regular Board meeting.  The Board heard comments from Jim Peters (President, Landmarks Preservation Council of Illinois) and Karen Kummer (Executive Director, Preservation and Conservation Association of Champaign County).  The Board will prepare a resolution to restore the Mumford House on site for vote at their next meeting in May.  LPCI offered support with the preservation effort through pro bono architects and engineers.  PACA thanks all who wrote letters of support for the Mumford House.

A copy of the UIUC news release can be found here.  An article appeared in the News-Gazette on March 11, 2009 and on Vince Michael’s blog. 

University students and other members of the community gathered in a South Quad rally to lock arms around Mumford House on Wednesday, March 4, 12:15 p.m. in support of the house remaining in its original location.   Facilities and Services of the University of Illinois is seeking to relocate Mumford House, the oldest building on campus, to a site south of campus on Windsor Road.

 ”We want the University to seek creative uses for the house in its original location,” said Tim Penich, President of the Student Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians.  “It was built in 1870 as a model farm house and the house needs to remain on this original site to retain its significance,” continued Penich.

Mumford House, originally called “Farm House,” was built as a model farm house just three years after the University was established.  At that time, it was part of the extensive Experimental Farms, which included barns and farm fields.  Morrow Plots, added in 1876, were part of these extensive grounds surrounding Mumford House and both are now nationally recognized historic resources. 

 Suggestions for the use of the house in its original, current location have included an Agriculture Interpretive Center that could focus on the nearby Morrow Plots, the oldest soil experimentation fields in the country, or for Agriculture Extension Services with the building’s renovation serving as a model for “green” rehabilitation, involving the School of Architecture’s Preservation Program.   “Students could get valuable experience in exploring environmentally sensitive ways to rehabilitate the house in an energy-efficient manner.  Mumford House could once again serve as a model farm house,” said Penich.

 Mumford House is near the Architecture Building and Temple Hoyne Buell Hall, in addition to the newly completed McFarland Memorial Bell Tower.   The Morrow Plots are nearby to the northeast of the house, across the open South Quad.