{"id":59063,"date":"2026-05-02T12:38:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T12:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/59063\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T12:38:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T12:38:10","slug":"genevas-historic-blacksmith-shop-gets-covered-in-plastic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/59063\/","title":{"rendered":"Geneva\u2019s historic blacksmith shop gets covered in plastic"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fought-over historic limestone remnant of an 1840s blacksmith shop on the former Mill Race Inn site<\/a> in Geneva<\/a> is now entirely covered in a giant sheet of white plastic.<\/p>\n

Shodeen Development, which owns the former Mill Race Inn property at 4 E. State St., under the name Mill Race Land Company LLC, has resisted the city\u2019s yearslong attempt to enforce its building code on the structure by asking that it be covered in a tarp to make it weatherproof for winter.<\/p>\n

The city cited Shodeen on June 20, 2024. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The condition of the circa-1840 former blacksmith shop at 4 E. State St., Geneva, is illustrated in developer Shodeen’s third application to raze the structure. (Photo provided by Shodeen)<\/p>\n

On Nov. 21, 2024, a hearing officer upheld<\/a> the city\u2019s citation to enforce its property maintenance code dating back to Oct. 17, 2024, and approved a $750-a-day fine that totaled $27,000 at the time.<\/p>\n

A year later, a judge affirmed<\/a> the adjudicator\u2019s decision, and the fine ballooned to $262,500 as of Oct. 2, 2025.<\/p>\n

So 561 days later, as of Friday, May 1, the fine would be up to $420,750.<\/p>\n

City spokesman Kevin Stahr stated in an email that, \u201cThe developer has been invoiced twice for the fines and is delinquent in making a payment to the City.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A 2026 invoice the city of Geneva sent to the Mill Race Land Company LLC, an entity created by Shodeen Development, for a $750-per-day fine in connection with a property maintenance citation from 2024. (Image provided by City of Geneva)<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the developer fails to pay the fines, it could result in a lien being placed on the property,\u201d Stahr\u2019s email stated.<\/p>\n

Records show that the Mill Race Land Company LLC was sent an invoice for $357,000 on Feb. 6 and another one for $363,000 on Feb. 13. <\/p>\n

According to Stahr\u2019s email, the company had no response to either invoice.<\/p>\n

Shodeen Group President David Patzelt emailed declining comment.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A second 2026 invoice Geneva sent to the Mill Race Land Company LLC, an entity created by Shodeen Development, for a $750-per-day fine in connection with a property maintenance citation from 2024. (Image provided by City of Geneva)<\/p>\n

Community Development Director David DeGroot responded to Shodeen\u2019s action to cover the building on April 23. His response directed the developer to put a tarp on it, and called the plastic covering \u201cunconventional.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is assumed that the recent wrapping of the landmarked structure located at 4 E. State Street was completed in an effort to address the cited violations of the International Property Maintenance Code,\u201d according to DeGroot\u2019s May 1 letter.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, it is unclear why this unconventional method was taken instead of simply replacing the weathered materials previously used to secure the building, such as the tarps on the roof and the boards over the windows and other openings,\u201d DeGroot\u2019s letter states. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe wrap does not allow for the inspection and\/or maintenance of the building\u2019s structural components or determination of compliance with the judicial order,\u201d according to the letter. \u201cYou have ten (10) days to appropriately secure the structure in accordance with the Hearing Officer\u2019s orders (as affirmed by Judge Flood). Failure to do so will result in a summons to appear before the hearing officer for local adjudication.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

Shaw Local file photo \u2013 David Patzelt speaks on behalf of the Shodeen Group at Geneva City Council special meeting regarding the Blacksmith Shop on Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Geneva. (Karen Naess for Shaw Local News Network\/Karen Naess )<\/p>\n

In a text, Patzelt declined to comment regarding the plastic cover or the city\u2019s response to it.<\/p>\n

Al Watts of Preservation Partners said in an email that if the plastic wrap around the building is not properly ventilated, \u201cthe building will likely rot quickly from the inside out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMasonry needs to breathe and wrapping it in plastic will likely trap moisture inside the masonry, causing it to rapidly deteriorate,\u201d according to Watts\u2019 email. \u201cThis does not seem to be a positive development for the building\u2019s preservation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In January, the Geneva City Council voted 6-4 to overturn the Historic Preservation Commission\u2019s denial<\/a> of the developer\u2019s petition to demolish the blacksmith shop. <\/p>\n

But the structure dodged the wrecking ball because seven votes were required to overturn the commission\u2019s unanimous denial of Shodeen\u2019s third request to demolish the structure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fought-over historic limestone remnant of an 1840s blacksmith shop on the former Mill Race Inn site in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59064,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1979,2115,65,898,305,899,1981],"class_list":{"0":"post-59063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-geneva","8":"tag-breaking","9":"tag-development","10":"tag-geneva","11":"tag-kane-county","12":"tag-local","13":"tag-local-news","14":"tag-shaw-local-front-headlines"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116505025314674824","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59063"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59063\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}