Blake Bowden
Founder
AURORA -- The old Masonic Temple at 104 S. Lincoln Ave. has a new owner, according to Kane County records.
Maria Vargas of Montgomery has purchased the towering 88-year-old building at Lincoln Avenue and Benton Street for $10, according to a deed filed with the Kane County recorder's office. The building is in desperate need of repair, and was condemned in November 2008 for safety reasons.
Vargas refused to comment, but John Curley, Aurora's assistant director of community development, said he has been in contact with her about the property. Vargas has an architect and a masonry contractor working for her, Curley said, and her team is preparing to test the stonework, to determine which portions will need to be removed or repaired.
The building's former owner, Flavio Capetillo, purchased it in 2007 for $315,000, which he got in the form of a federal block grant through the city. For years, the city and Capetillo went back and forth over his planned renovations, with city officials demanding he secure unsafe sections of the building and Capetillo promising that financing soon would come through to make those repairs possible.
Capetillo and his partner, Maggie Rivera, operated the Lincoln Manor out of the old temple, hosting banquets and other functions. But all that came to an end when Curley condemned the building and ordered them to vacate. That order is still in place, Curley said, because the building remains too unsafe to occupy.
When condemning the property, Curley said several sections of the concrete veneer had shifted, and some of the stone had started to buckle. The city performed emergency repairs in 2007, and at the time of the condemnation, Capetillo owed the city more than $76,000 in fines and other fees.
Capetillo had dreams of turning Lincoln Manor into a community center. But Curley estimates it will take at least $1 million to renovate the outside.
"This is the fourth team I've gone through on this building," Curley said. "I'm hopeful something will happen soon."
Source: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/2648968,2_1_AU29_MANOR_S1-100829.article
Maria Vargas of Montgomery has purchased the towering 88-year-old building at Lincoln Avenue and Benton Street for $10, according to a deed filed with the Kane County recorder's office. The building is in desperate need of repair, and was condemned in November 2008 for safety reasons.
Vargas refused to comment, but John Curley, Aurora's assistant director of community development, said he has been in contact with her about the property. Vargas has an architect and a masonry contractor working for her, Curley said, and her team is preparing to test the stonework, to determine which portions will need to be removed or repaired.
The building's former owner, Flavio Capetillo, purchased it in 2007 for $315,000, which he got in the form of a federal block grant through the city. For years, the city and Capetillo went back and forth over his planned renovations, with city officials demanding he secure unsafe sections of the building and Capetillo promising that financing soon would come through to make those repairs possible.
Capetillo and his partner, Maggie Rivera, operated the Lincoln Manor out of the old temple, hosting banquets and other functions. But all that came to an end when Curley condemned the building and ordered them to vacate. That order is still in place, Curley said, because the building remains too unsafe to occupy.
When condemning the property, Curley said several sections of the concrete veneer had shifted, and some of the stone had started to buckle. The city performed emergency repairs in 2007, and at the time of the condemnation, Capetillo owed the city more than $76,000 in fines and other fees.
Capetillo had dreams of turning Lincoln Manor into a community center. But Curley estimates it will take at least $1 million to renovate the outside.
"This is the fourth team I've gone through on this building," Curley said. "I'm hopeful something will happen soon."
Source: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/2648968,2_1_AU29_MANOR_S1-100829.article