 During the congressman's visit, Mayor Keith Snyder and Michael Maniscalco of the Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership
were on hand. In addition, two other members of local government,
county board member Terry Carlton and city council member David
Wilmert, who work in the building, were on hand for the meeting.
The Scully Building is owned by Patrick Doolin and houses Doolin's
business, Integrity Data.
Up until 2001, the building housed an array of storefront
businesses, but in the early part of that year, fire broke out in
the building, and it soon turned into an inferno that did an
enormous amount of damage to the interior and destroyed the roof.
Thursday while visiting with Schock, April Doolin talked about
the fire and how the clay roof tiles popped off, landing in the
street below -- an effect of being first cold, then wet and hot.
At the time of the fire, the Doolins did not own the building,
and though the owner at the time did put a roof back on, it
otherwise sat empty and in disrepair for seven years.
When the Doolins purchased the building, their goal was to keep
everything that was savable and integrate into the building new
designs that in some areas fit the original style of the building,
and in other areas create spaces that are modern in appearance.
Examples of this are found in the upstairs meeting room, where
the design is very formal and very traditional, with a beautiful
fireplace and rich, heavy wood accents. However, in contrast, the
common area on the main floor is very industrial, with exposed
ductwork, more contemporary color palettes and furnishings that have
very clean, sharp, simple lines.
Doolin said his brother, Greg, was responsible for the
architectural design, and his wife, April, did all the interior
decorating.
By the time the project was finished, 20 local contractors and
companies had a hand in the revitalization of the Scully Building.
As the Doolins visited with Schock on Thursday, Patrick Doolin
recounted a day when the building was still under construction and
there was a lunch in the common area of the main floor. He said that
when he came into the area, he noted about 50 people in the room,
with the vast majority being Lincoln folks.
Schock said the Scully Building was a good example of what can be
done to preserve the older and historic buildings in communities.
But he also acknowledged that taking on a job such as the
restoration of the Scully Building can actually cost more than
building new.
Because of this, Schock has introduced the Creating American
Prosperity through Preservation Act in Congress. The CAPP Act
enhances the historic tax credit and makes it easier for smaller
communities to take on preservation projects since it is to increase
the tax credits from the 20 percent included in the present credit
to 30 percent.
Schock explained that making restoration more affordable means
more work for local contractors. He noted that in his district,
where he serves over 160 small communities, offering help that will
promote preservation and create jobs is particularly important.
Doolin agreed, saying his project had taken advantage of the tax
credit, and having the 20 percent credit had made a tremendous
difference in what they were able to afford to do with the Scully
Building. Doolin also noted that during the reconstruction they also
took advantage of credits through the Lincoln/Logan County
Enterprise Zone.
"Twenty percent of the project was eligible for tax credit. That
was a significant part of our financing," he said.
Later he commented again about the local people involved in the
project, saying, "We had our own local stimulus package."
[to top of second column] |
Schock also offered a written statement about the CAPP Act. Below
is an excerpt from that statement, which explains the act.
(Copy)
Washington, DC - Congressman Aaron
Schock (R-IL) has introduced legislation called the Creating
American Prosperity through Preservation (CAPP) Act, H.R. 2479, that
would provide a boost to local economic development through the
restoration and reuse of historic buildings. Schock, a member of the
House Ways and Means committee, the chief tax writing committee,
introduced this bill to strengthen the Historic Tax Credit (HTC)
already in place and is seen as a boost for the continued
development in Springfield and surrounding communities.
"Historic preservation is an important
cause in and of itself, but it also has demonstrated time and again
that it can be a significant catalyst for economic growth," said
Schock. "This legislation is an additional way to incentivize
private sector job creation by renovating and invigorating downtown
areas."
Schock's legislation will strengthen
the current credit and make it more usable by targeting it to the
rebuilding of historic downtown main streets while also encouraging
every rehabilitation to become more energy efficient. The historic
preservation credit is a permanent part of the tax code, and
according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, historic
rehabilitation has created thousands of local, high-paying,
high-skilled jobs yearly. In 2009 and 2010, historic rehabilitation
created over 145,000 new jobs. In Illinois, between FY 2009 and
2010, according to the Historic Tax Credit Association, there were
3,188 jobs created from Historic Tax Credit Rehabilitation
Investment.
"The primary purpose of my legislation
is to enhance the ability of smaller renovations to benefit for the
tax credit," said Schock. "The historic rehabilitation tax incentive
has already been in use with the former Jennings Ford building in
Springfield and in Lincoln with the Scully Building."
The CAPP Act strengthens the economic
development impact of the Historic Tax Credit which has been in
existence since 1981 and has lead to the rehabilitation of over
37,000 vacant or underutilized historic buildings, created over 2
million jobs and has leveraged over $90 billion in private
investment. Specifically, the legislation will help smaller projects
by increasing the credit from 20 percent to 30 percent for projects
with $5 million or less in Qualified Rehabilitation Expenditures.
CAPP Act also updates the date of construction time line for the 20
percent historic tax credit and the 10 percent credit for
non-historic older buildings. Thirty states have also enacted state
historic tax credits to encourage the development of historic
properties. Schock's legislation would eliminate the federal
taxation of the proceeds of state credits transferred through
partnerships and sold as state tax certificates.
The CAPP legislation will ensure that
rural and smaller communities will benefit to a much larger extent.
By strengthening the HTC it will help the credit so that it can
adapt to the constantly changing economy and needs of communities.
The legislation also promotes energy-efficiency and cost-savings by
encouraging developers to use energy efficient technology. A
provision in the legislation would also facilitate the reuse of
older buildings by nonprofits for projects of high community benefit
while creating jobs and stimulating the local economy in low-income,
underserved areas. The National Trust for Historic Preservation
reports that since 2002, about two-thirds of all historic tax credit
projects have been located in neighborhoods with family incomes at
or below 80 percent of the area median.
[By NILA SMITH]
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