In April of 2001, when the state of Illinois was considering the purchase of the Farnsworth House and the 62 acres of land it sits on along the Fox River, I wrote a letter and sent it to damn near everyone I knew at the time that had anything to do with conservation, along with sending it to the Letters sections of all the papers.
I knew that in 1996, when the Fox had a 100 year flood event, it inundated the Farnsworth House and it cost $250K to restore it. As the infamous WGN radio host Spike O’Dell said at the time of the 1996 floods… “What did you think was going to happen when you paved everything over, water’s gotta go somewhere.”
I had studied architecture and knew all about Mies and the historic significance of the house, why it was built the way it is and why it’s located where it is… and none of that mattered to me.
Apparently I made that quite clear in part of the letter I wrote back then.
Common sense dictates that you don’t build homes in floodplains.
I think the emphasis on why the State of Illinois should purchase the Farnsworth property needs to be reevaluated. The purchase of the house would include 62 acres of land that borders the Fox River. The land alone, with or without the inclusion of the house, should be purchased by the state.
The Farnsworth property is next to, and across the river from, Silver Springs State Park. Adding the 62 acres to Silver Springs would protect a beautiful stretch of the Fox River from development, and guarantee public access to a body of water that is quickly becoming surrounded by private property.
As for the house, if it is included in the purchase, it should be moved further back on the floodplain. I don’t think moving it will have any effect on its architectural integrity. In the long run, the move will save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in repair bills as the house will no longer get damaged by floods.
The picture at the top of this post is from April of 2013, never did bother looking into what it cost to repair it that time. I know there was another high water event just a few years earlier. Those pesky 100 year high water events decided to almost become a regular feature of the river.
I distinctly recall having a conversation about this back then and suggested moving the house to the edge of the cornfield up the hill to the north and east of where it now sits.
Flash forward 14 years to an article that was in the Tribune’s Beacon News on June 19, 2015:
Trust considers moving Mies van der Rohe home on the Fox River
One of the three options being considered is what I suggested 14 years ago.
Ultimately this has nothing to do with the Farnsworth House, the legacy of Mies van der Rohe or whether or not you like glass and steel buildings. I think the world could do just fine with a little less glass and steel.
For me it became a revelation as to why I get bored and disinterested with “issues” so quickly. I have no clue why my brain draws conclusions as quickly as it does, but for many years I’ve felt compelled to share these conclusions with others only to have them met with disinterest and ridicule.
Which is why I now consciously avoid saying much of anything regarding issues.
Yet here it is 14 years and at least two damaging flood events later, someone came up with the brilliant idea that maybe this building should be moved out of the way some how.
Well, there’s a novel idea.
Maybe by the time it gets out of committee and I happen to live to be 90, I’ll see it happen.
But I’m not banking on it.
In the mean time I think an opportunity is being missed.
I hear that on a nice, bright, sunny day the Farnsworth House turns into the world’s largest convection oven.
Imagine the cook offs that could be done.
Maybe this is what Mies intended for the Farnsworth House all along.
Dan Sims
20 Jun 2015Wow! Was Big Rock and Little Rock the same flow that day?! That does sit mighty high from normal pool…. Crazy!
Dan
btw…
maybe they should move the house! 😉
Ken G
20 Jun 2015I have a handful of pictures from that day Dan. Big and Little Rock, Blackberry, all blown out.
Just this week Blackberry just west of me was creating ponds all over the place. I was a little surprised at how high it got. Didn’t seem like that much rain.
Maybe in 14 years they’ll get around to moving it. In the mean time, I’m secretly hoping that a deluge will raise the water and trees floating down the river moves it for them. Some people just don’t learn till it’s far too late.
Jim McClellan
20 Jun 2015When it comes to public policy, think of yourself as an ant eating an elephant carcass. It takes a long time and a lot of help, and somebody might step on you along the way. But, sooner or later, the elephant gets eaten and the ants march on. (They forget about you, but they march on!)
If it makes you feel any better, I give you all the credit!!
Ken G
21 Jun 2015Good comparison Jim. I’ve run into this same snails pace with dam removal issues. This year with the dams they’re at least doing what I suggested over a decade ago. It’s coming out, how do you want it to look when we’re done.
I just wind up wondering why it takes so long to come to what appears to me, obvious conclusions.
Howard Levett
28 Jun 2015Keep doing what you’ve been doing Ken. When I get back there I’d like to see something historical left.