Man plans to rebuild Elyria history

ELYRIA — An man who grew up in Elyria plans to reconstruct the historic Reefy Mansion, nearly 60 years after its demolition launched his lifelong passion for saving and renovating historic buildings. Steven McQuillin, a historic preservation consultant who now lives in Hayesville in Ashland County, went before City Council on Monday to present his plan to buy the vacant lot at the northwest corner of Third Street and West Avenue to build a downsized version of the mansion and rent out four apartment units from it. "I thought I could do something attractive and beautiful that could help revitalize (downtown,)" McQuillin said Friday. Council voted to transfer the land to the Elyria Community Improvement Corporation, which will then sell the land to McQuillin for $50,000, Mayor Kevin Brubaker said. McQuillin, who was born in Columbus but moved to Elyria when he was 3, was just 13 years old when he made his first attempt to save a historic building from destruction. Having recently joined the Elyria First United Methodist Church, McQuillin said when he learned the church leaders planned to demolish the neighboring Reefy Mansion on Third Street to expand the church, he lobbied them to try and save it. They told him the upkeep would be too expensive and difficult. "They said that with the high ceilings it would be too hard to heat, and I just found that not to be credible," McQuillin said of his 13-year-old self. The Reefy Mansion was demolished in 1967 to make way for a new church hall, and McQuillin left the church in protest of the decision. Though his first attempt failed, McQuillin said it helped spark a passion in him that would become a career in renovating, rebuilding and saving historic buildings. Now — 58 years and many historic renovations later — McQuillin has the plan and will soon have the land to revive the building that started it all, just up the street from where it once stood. "What I'd like to do is recall the form of the old Elyria Library (once housed in the Reefy Mansion) which I'm one of the few people maybe in this room who is old enough to remember now, because that was a wonderful building, one of my first memories as a child," McQuillin said Monday. History and revival Construction of the mansion began in 1902 at the behest of Dr. Philip D. Reefy, a local physician and mayor of Elyria, according to the West By the River Historic District. During his 1900-04 term as mayor, Reefy was the one to purchase land on the coast of Lake Erie and build the city's water distribution plant, which is still in use today. The project took five years, exacerbated by Reefy's tendency to change his mind about portions of the home, having them torn out and replaced or altered. By 1907 the mansion was complete, with its intricate woodwork, carvings and iconic castlelike circular stone tower topped with battlements. Reefy's son, Dr. Karl Reefy, lived in the house after his father's death in 1913. In 1929 the building was purchased by the Elyria Public Library for just $30,0000, or $563,973 in today's money, accounting for inflation. The library added an expansion onto the home to allow more room for books, according to the Oberlin Heritage Center, and it remained the library until 1966, when the Elyria Public Library opened its Main Library on Washington Avenue. The next year, a young McQuillin's attempts to save the building failed and it was demolished by the church. After graduating from Elyria High School, McQuillin attended Oberlin College, where he said his desire to save old structures blossomed further when students of the college formed a protest to oppose the College's then-plan to tear down several historic buildings to make way for the new library. Unlike his first attempt, McQuillin said, the Oberlin protests were successful, and the administration moved the new library elsewhere. It was the first of many successes in preservation for McQuillin, who graduated from Obelrin and then Columbia University's Preservation Program before eventually founding his own company to consult on historic renovations. McQuillin's first job out of college was working for Elyria's Planning Commission. In that role, he lobbied the city not to tear down its original City Hall, built in 1867, instead presenting plans to combine the building with neighboring ones, including a former opera house. He helped get it placed on the National Register of Historic Places to protect it, until the proposed combination and renovations were carried out under mayors J. Grant Keys and Bill Grace. His plan won out, and McQuillin is responsible in large part for Elyria City Hall as it stands today. McQuillin would go on to renovate the Vermillion Institute, a dilapidated former college in Hayesville, out of which he now does historic renovation and preservation consulting across the country. Hayesville is surrounded by Vermillion Township in Ashland County (as opposed to 'Vermilion Township' in Erie County). Through his work, McQuillin has nominated over 100 buildings and historic district's to the National Register of Historic Places. He played a role in the renovations of Terminal Tower and the Higbee's Building in Cleveland, along with equally large projects across the country. Elyria City Hall was also far from his only work in Lorain County, as McQuillin has consulted on and led renovations in Oberlin for years as well as several others in Elyria. "I just want to say, I am one of those people who lived through when you fought for this beautiful opera house and (for) turning it into City Hall," Councilwoman Mary Siwierka, D-3rd Ward, said on Monday. "Also, you were modest in not bringing up that you also were instrumental in the Elyria High School remodel and I think the county commissioners also consulted with you with renovations over at our beautiful Justice Center. So thank you so much for your dedication to Elyria and to this project." Now, after decades of work and success in the field of historical renovation, it seems McQuillin is finally ready to create something to honor and recall the building that helped start it all. The plan for a new Reefy Mansion After laying out the history of the building and his qualifications, McQuillin delved into how he expects to re-create the turn-of-the-century mansion that took five years to build, in the modern day. McQuillin told Council that his goal was not simply to create a monument to the building he loved, but a functional, practical structure which he hoped would serve to help breathe new life into downtown Elyria. The structure will not be an exact replica — it will be about 3,500 to 5,000 square feet as opposed to the 5,000 to 7,000 square feet of the original — but McQuillin said it will capture some of the most iconic features of the original building, like its three-story stone tower and spacious porches. The new building will be split into four apartment suites, which McQuillin said may be sold as condos, but he was also prepared to rent them at market rate. He said that the first floor will be split between two suites that he hoped would include the basement, with two units on the second floor with access to third floor attic space. McQuillin said that similar renovations and layouts of older buildings were very popular in Oberlin, and he hoped his project would help bring them to Elyria. "It does seem like this is a popular concept: to build nice, elegant apartment buildings that have character to them and yet can attract a good rent," McQuillin said at Council. "So I am hopeful that this can open up that market for rentals in downtown Elyria." The project is projected to cost around $1.2 million to $1.5 million, but McQuillin said he had the money and did not expect to need to take out any loans to build. "I know that seems like a high number, especially for people like me who have been around for a while, but I just do not see a way around it with those details and things like that," he said Monday. He also said that he thought the project could be completed in six months, and he has an architect working on the final plans. Several Council members lauded McQuillin for his plan and thanked him for coming back to Elyria to try and make something out of a vacant lot. "Well I can tell you, it sounds like this is a passion project for you and thank you for reinvesting in the city and I'm inspired by what you are going to present to the city," Council President Vic Stewart, D-at Large, said. "We appreciate you coming up here and sharing your vision." Councilman Phil Tollett, D-at Large, also thanked McQuillin for his investment in downtown Elyria. "It is enormous, this is exactly the idea we need, thank you and I just appreciate it," Tollett said. While he expects to fund the project himself, McQuillin said if it is successful he hopes that it may serve as an example for the state to allow Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program applicable to full historic rebuilds, rather than only redevelopment of existing buildings. Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.