The detailed official notice on the Hinsdale Plan Commission’s June 10 public hearing (7:30 p.m. via Zoom) to receive residents’ input on a proposed moratorium on demolitions of certain historic homes and other buildings is on the village website’s home page at https://www.villageofhinsdale.org, under Featured News.
Importantly, the notice references and provides a link to the 1999 “Hinsdale Reconnaissance Survey,” prepared by Historic Certification Consultants at the direction of the village to do the groundwork for more rigorous examination of Hinsdale’s history and architectural resources.
The Recon survey covered the entire village; looked at more than 5,600 structures; classified more than 1,800 of them as historically significant, contributing or potentially contributing; and more than 3,700 structures as non-contributing to a historic district, but not necessarily lacking historical value for some of them then or with the passage of time.
Also included in the survey were five proposed historic districts, a next-step demonstration survey of a single Hinsdale block, a listing and examples of the village’s varied architectural styles, and an explanation of the survey methodology, the criteria and the sources used in the survey.
In short, the comprehensive, highly-readable survey helped confirm what many Hinsdale residents long had known and probably all residents took pride in — Hinsdale was home to an unusually rich historic and architectural heritage.
Please look at the survey for a good measure on what Hinsdale had and may still have as an opportunity for historic preservation. — Bob Saigh, former trustee, Phoenix
