303 West University Avenue, Urbana

The Greek Revival Cottage was built around 1852 and is the oldest documented residence in Champaign-Urbana. When the house was threatened by University of Illinois expansion, the university gave the Champaign County Historical Museum $5,000 for moving expenses. The house was moved to 303 West University Avenue, Urbana (Leal Park) in 1977 and underwent partial renovation. After renovation efforts stalled, PACA took over the project in the spring of 1986. An estimated $87,000 in volunteer time and donated material was spent on the restoration, which was completed in early 1987. The building was then given to the Urbana Park District, on whose land it sits. Initially leased to the International Society of Arboriculture, rent was split between the Park District and PACA, providing much-needed revenue in PACA’s early years. Ten years later, the house became the Urbana Park District’s administrative offices and remains so today.

The historic bank building was scheduled for demolition, when Mayor Joan Severns (a future PACA board member) and a group of concerned citizens (the nucleus of PACA), and the Champaign County Historical Museum stepped forward to save the structure.  The City of Champaign purchased the National Register building in 1976 and offered it for redevelopment after public funding did not materialize.  Although the fledgling PACA board submitted an ambitious redevelopment proposal, two local developers with better funding were awarded the project in 1982.  However, the developers (Leon Jeske and Edward Hass) relied heavily on PACA for historic research on the building’s original exterior design, for specific historic restoration advice, and for administrative help with an Illinois Department of Conservation preservation grant.  Members Gregory Hargus and Bruce Hannon were invaluable on this project.  The restored building opened in 1983.  FIrst used as office space, it is currently (2008) the home of the Champaign County Historical Museum.

503 South State Street, Champaign

In December 2005, PACA received a major gift from the Drenckhahn and Morris families, the descendants of Francis Emory and Abbie Gunning Solon. The brick Italianate house at 503 South State Street, Champaign, was built in 1867 by William C. Barrett, as a “spec” house. The first family to occupy the residence was that of Abel and Isabella Harwood; the family owned the house from 1870 to 1907. Francis and Abbie Solon purchased the home from the Harwood estate in 1907 and raised their five children there. In 1995, their oldest son and last surviving child, John Solon, died and the house was inherited by his nieces and nephew. It was these descendants that donated this significant and highly visible historic building to PACA for its preservation.

Since receiving the property, PACA’s work on the house has included sorting and distributing to the proper recipients items that remained in the house and undertaking “house archeology” to help understand the changes to and evolution of the building. In addition, a graduate architecture student, Christopher Enck, has painstakingly drawn measured floor plans of the house and an extremely detailed roof plan. This work was supervised by architect Gregory Hargus, who previously worked with PACA on the Cattle Bank and Greek Revival Cottage projects. Repairs have also been made to the roofs, cupola, and eaves, while other work has further stabilized the structure.

In addition to cleaning and stabilization, PACA has enacted preservation safeguards for the house. In 2006, the Champaign City Council rezoned the property from the IT-MF In-Town Multi-Family District to IT-SF1, In-Town Single Family District. Already designated a Champaign Landmark, the residence was also listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Future plans for the Solon House include offering it for sale to a preservation-minded buyer who has the resources for a full restoration. PACA also will retain preservation easements on the house’s exterior and significant interior features.

508 East Church Street, Champaign