Save Hotel Baker |
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This blog is regarding the plight of the spectacular and historic Hotel Baker in Saint Charles, IL that is in serious trouble because the owners went bankrupt.  St. Charles Public Library - Hotel Baker History E-mail me **!! Sealed Auction Information site - bids due July 22nd 2003 !!** City of St. Charles website City of Geneva website Hotel Baker iPix Tours AIA Chicago 1998 design awards page AIA Chicago 2000 design awards page *PING* Archives 
Other weBlogs by Daniel Stafford: The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal *Spell Book* Affirmation Station Remembering Mom Save Hotel Baker Uncle Harold's Farm |
Friday, January 17, 2003
Also, I heard back from Mr. Charles K. - I'd proposed meeting with him - apparently he lives three hours away and is out of state often. A meeting would be difficult and require planning for, perhaps in the future. Melody, I called the SBOC at Northwestern School of Law today before going to sleep. I wound up speaking to the director, Tom Marsch. Basically, he thinks it's a wonderful thing for his students to work on, I'm right it would take about $2k to file incorporation and the 501(c)(3) app, and they are booked up until April 1st. He told me to call back then and they might be able to help us. Also, one of the first questions he asked was what would qualify our organization for 501(C)(3) status? I got as far as telling him about the preservation of a national historic site, and the museum of hotel history, and then he jumped in and said it might be a longshot for us to qualify. He was very interested but terse. (He was familiar with the hotel - his parents used to take him there as a child.) I think that whatever else we do, we must come up with an organized comprehensive presentation of why we would be qualified as a 501(c) (3). It's the smart thing to do, anyway. We could use the same presentation in order to gather support from local officials, residents, and potential donors. I personally need a more in-depth understanding of what qualifies for 501(c)(3). (I think it's time to copy and start pasting that term...) He also said that the more prestigious the background of our board of directors, (there must be three of us as we knew) the better our chances of success in every regard, including the filings. Bottom line: They can't help us until April, and we need to prove ourselves thoroughly so the students have strong ammunition for the filing. See you Sunday! Dan Thursday, January 16, 2003
Wednesday, January 15, 2003
I've spent the last hour or so reading in the Nonprofit Kit For Dummies. From what I'm seeing, the ideas we've had so far would qualify in three areas as valid and possibly tax exempt activities and purposes for a nonprofit. 1. Historic preservation. 2. Education. 3. Improving quality of life for the community. 4. Providing services to the community. It's much more involved than these basic things, but they appear to fit so far. I'm also having other ideas for things that could be done at a later point in time if we successfully start up and operate. I shall read on and report back later with outlines for those ideas. Tuesday, January 14, 2003
The news for today is rather limited. No word back today from Charles K as yet. Melody and I are making plans to hold an informal first meeting in the next couple of weeks with both our spouses. Details of that conversation will not be posted until after the meeting. We ran the idea by a friend of my wife's Tom, and he thought the whole thing was interesting. That's it for today. Monday, January 13, 2003
Melody, Thank you. Saren just got home, I'm logging off until later tonight. I'll let you know anything that comes up. Dan Melody Felton wrote: DAN, It will take a couple of days, but I will start working on that today. Melody Felton Melody, I'd like to hear a general rundown on the grants. Not what grants they are, just how many are possible, what purposes you can get them for, and amounts. It's going to be impossible to plan much without at least a basic quick reference sheet on what's out there. Can you put something brief like that together? And anything you'd like to hear from me on? Thanks, Dan Dear Mr. G., I will be very happy the day I can inform you brunch is on. Sincerely, Dan Stafford Paul G. wrote: Dear sirs, I was quite saddened to find no listing for the hotel on 411 today. My wife and I often will celebrate promotions and new jobs by having brunch at the hotel. Apparently it's been a hard few years on all of us. Please let us know if the place re-opens, as we are particularly hungry for some Eggs Benedict. Sincerly, Paul and Mickey G. Mr. K, Ok. This is all published in the weblog as well, if you need to refer back it's in the past couple of weeks. 1. The current title holder is LaSalle Bank National. They were represented in Kane County case no. 02-CH K 043 by Stewart T. Kusper Esq. and Dennis K. Blackwell of Katten Muchin Zavis Rosenmann. The law firm is located at 525 West Monroe St. in Chicago. 312-902-5200. 2. I am not aware of the tax situation with the hotel at this point in time. 3. The Baker was rennovated from 1997-1999. It won design awards from the American Institute of Architects in 1998 & 2000. The award pages are linked on the left column of the weblog. 4. The hotel is already registered as a national historic place, according to my associate Melody, it was owned by Lutheran Welfare Services and that filing was completed and approved around 1973 I believe. 5. I was last in the bulding just a little more than a year ago and it was in very good condition as far as I recall, but I was not specifically looking for issues. I was there for the well known Sunday brunch. I wish I had been looking, I know a good bit about building maintenance. I know I was seriously impressed with the place, enough that when I heard about this I started trying to get some progress toward bringing it back. 6. An interesting point, the dam on the Fox River adjacent to the hotel was originally constructed by Colonel Baker as a hydroeletric plant specifically for Hotel Baker and should be part of the hotel. I have a voice-mail in to Mr. Kusper at the law firm requesting information on whom to contact at Lasalle as far as potential purchase and asking price. He has not as yet responded and I just left the message late Friday afternoon. No further word beyond that. At this point I do not know who we would need to speak to to tour the property or how much they are asking, but I'd based on the terms and amounts mentioned in the court records, I'd hazard a guess in the neighborhood of $4-5 million. Melody believes there are several grants we might qualify for if we incorporate as a non-profit, but I do not as yet have any specifics from her. I'm waiting to hear back from her on that. Can you tell me a bit about yourself? For instance, your first name, how you picture yourself involved in this effort, etc? Melody and I are both curious whom we're dealing with. Dan Melody, Thank you. I will ask Saren to propose a time and get back to you. As to speaking to others about the Baker, please just keep me advised on developements. I will trust your judgement. Any firm plans we decide together. Also, I picked up a copy of "The Nonprofit Kit For Dummies" last night and am planning on giving myself a crash course over the next few weeks. It's written by Stan Hutton and Frances Phillips. Mr. Hutton at one point was executive director of the San Francisco Easter Seal Society. Just a bit of trivia, but I thought you might enjoy that. I am going to work on answering Mr. Charles, and I'll get back to you. Dan Melody Felton wrote: Dan, This sounds like a great development. I also have someone I was going to speak about regarding this situation. He is a business man and also owns a hotel. As far as dinner my husband and I work bankers hours basically and whatever weekend you have to meet and talk this over would be fine with me. I will let my husband know. I have not really spoken with anyone else about this as I would like to check with you first. So let me know if it is ok with you to speak to someone else about the hotel. talk to you later Melody Felton -----Original Message----- From: Dan Stafford Sent: Sunday, January 12, 2003 2:28 PM To: Melody Felton Subject: [Fwd: Re: hotel] FYI on a developing situation.... Dan -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: hotel Date: Sun, 12 Jan 2003 11:41:13 -0600 From: "Charles K" Hello Dan,Thank you for your quick response, I would like to know the complete situation with the building. I am able to help with both monies and development. Please let me know the details. Who has deed to the building, past taxes, condition in and out, etc.. |
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