Ordinance to give landmark status to St. Boniface gets first reading, but one alderman says he won’t support it

QUINCY — Three people asked the Quincy City Council during its Tuesday meeting to approve giving landmark status to St. Boniface Church, but one alderman has already said the proposed ordinance likely won’t get his vote.

Suzanne Irwin-Wells, Paul Geers and Janet Conover — all members of the Quincy Preservation Commission — made their pleas during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting. An ordinance designating St. Boniface, 641 Maine, as a landmark was presented for the first time to aldermen. The ordinance will be read twice more before aldermen vote on it.

The commission voted in August to continue its review of a resubmitted application by Conover to make St. Boniface a local landmark despite a request from the Diocese of Springfield for the commission to determine that further consideration of the application is “not warranted.”

An application for landmark status for the historic church was denied by an 8-5 vote by the Quincy City Council in 2007.

Conover told aldermen that she recently learned of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) of 2000. She said Jon Pressley, the certified local government program coordinator for the Illinois Preservation Office, who told her in a letter, “After looking at the law, it doesn’t seem there should be a problem landmarking St. Boniface.”

She said Pressley said the RLUIPA does not apply to local landmarking as long as the landmarking does not create a substantial burden.

“I ask: What burden would landmarking St. Boniface create for the Springfield Diocese?” Conover said.

She said if St. Boniface were to be demolished, there would be other losses — an architectural treasure in Quincy that is recognized nationally, the stained glass windows of the Ten Commandments written in code, the tallest steeple and physical property in the city and the loss of tourism.

Conover said 79 churches in Illinois are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Three churches in Quincy have been certified as local landmarks — St. Rose of Lima, St. John’s Episcopal Church and St. Paul’s Kirche.

“If St. Boniface is landmarked and the diocese later wants to demolish it, there would be a six-month review process that includes a public hearing and meetings with the property owner to hopefully work things out,” Conover said. “This is a fair process.”

St. Boniface was the site of the first Mass for Father Augustine Tolton, the first Black Roman Catholic priest in the United States, on July 18, 1886. Francis Cardinal George initiated the canonization process for Tolton in 2010, announcing the cause for canonization for sainthood. Pope Francis advanced Tolton’s cause for sainthood in 2019, elevating him to “Venerable.”

James A. Bock, chancellor and general counsel of the Diocese of Springfield, sent a letter to the commission on Aug. 1 saying Blessed Sacrament Parish in Quincy does not have “a viable plan” for any future use of St. Boniface and that it has been “a financial hardship” for the parish to attempt to keep up with its maintenance.

Bock said Bishop Thomas John Paprocki issued a decree on Nov. 18, 2023, creating a temporary committee to evaluate St. Boniface as a possible site for a shrine for Tolton.

“The owner and diocese do not foresee a viable use for St. Boniface outside of the possibility of a shrine,” Bock’s letter read.

Alderman Dave Bauer (D-2) asked what the difference was between the most recent application and the 2007 application. Jason Parrott, community development planner, said the application was essentially the same “with a little more information added to it to update it.” Parrott said the owner has not given consent to the application.

“I don’t feel comfortable putting somebody’s property on a thing where they lose control over it,” Bauer said. “If they were in favor of it, great, I’m in favor of it. But this is the same argument. Last time, you’re taking someone’s property and you’re telling them what they can and can’t do with it. I’m going to have a hard time supporting that.”

Conover said the reason that the application has come up again is because she believes there has been a discussion that the property might be demolished.

“Landmarking is our best protection,” she said.

In other action, aldermen:

• Approved a request that Fifth between Broadway and Vermont be closed from 7 to 9 p.m. on Nov. 5 for election administration.
• Permitted the Quincy Humane Society and the Sheridan Swim Team to conduct raffles.
• Approved Mayor Mike Troup’s appointment of Jaime Russell to the Quincy Tree Commission.
• Approved acceptance of the Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act Grant award for $108,588. Police Chief Adam Yates said in a memo to aldermen that the grant will pay for additional mental health training for officers, officer wellness screenings, computer equipment, mental health counseling and access to the “We Never Walk Alone” mental health smartphone app.
• Approved the employee health insurance plan and dental insurance plan from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois.
• Approved a proposal from Voya Financial to be the new provider of 457b Plan beginning in 2025.
• Approved completion of $23,735.99 to replace to the Quincy Fire Department’s Engine 2 outrigger box assembly by Kretzer Machine and Welding.
• Approved paying $38,721.36 in expenses for three recruits to attend this fall’s Illinois Fire Service Institute Basic Operations Firefighter Academy in Champaign.
• Approved invoices totaling $34,263.86 from Tri-Township Fire Protection District. That figure is a correction of a resolution passed on Sept. 3 for a 10 percent grant match for the software and hardware equipment for the upgrade of radio equipment to the P25 digital platform.
• Approved spending $7,500 with Klingner and Associates to provide a design and construction document on the widening of two overhead doors. 
• Approved an invoice for $31,268.25 from Kroll for a year 3 contract payment for Kroll Responder for Endpoint Management Detection and Response.
• Approved an invoice for $15,671.08 from Kroll for Kroll Responder for Endpoint Management Detection and Response services overage charges for the period from December 2023 through August 2024.
• Approved the increase of the salaries of Quincy Township Supervisor Maggie Hoyt and Lisa Gasko from $61,869 to $85,000 for the next four years — a 37.4 percent increase. Township Clerk Laura Oakman’s salary was increased to $4,700, and the salaries for the seven aldermen to be elected in the November municipal election and the mayor for their township duties to be increased from $900 to $1,200 annually.
• Tabled an ordinance increasing the salaries of Oakman as city clerk and Kelly Stupasky as city treasurer to $80,000 for the next four years.