ROCHELLE — The City of Rochelle’s National Register Nomination for Rochelle’s Historic District was approved by the Illinois Historic Sites Advisory Council in Springfield Friday afternoon.  Thanks to the work of Community Development Staff and Ramsey Historic Consultants, the proposal was well-received and the organization chose to move forward.  City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh was in attendance for the presentation and announcement this afternoon.

“We are thrilled with today’s announcement and look forward to being a part of the growth and development of our Downtown,” said City Manager Jeff Fiegenschuh.

Historic Districts act as a way of maintaining the history and telling the story of the community while providing access to a key financing tool, the 20% historic tax credit. These financing tools act as the key for struggling downtowns where property values sometimes do not justify the cost to improve these buildings. The tax credit acts as the gap filler and makes a project less risky for a bank and therefore more attractive for investment. In order to access the credit, the redevelopment projects must meet the Standards for Rehabilitation, which ensures a development product that honors the architecture and history of the building.

Should a building owner not wish to utilize historic tax credits, they have the liberty to make changes to the building however they please; they are not constricted by the designation as a National Register Historic District.

“Our downtown is already a beautiful place in our community and now our property owners and investors will have yet another tool in place to beautify the area,” said Community Development Director Michelle Pease.