SHELBYVILLE - Shelbyville's Chautauqua Building, a 150-foot-diameter structure unique in Illinois, is 105 years old and showing its age.

Some of the giant wooden beams are warped. Others are braced by additional wood and steel rods. Cables that hold the circular roof in place are more than 100 years old. Some are anchored, some are loose and some, no one knows. The clerestory windows are broken or missing.

The Shelbyville City Council is considering ways to save the historic building, which has hosted gatherings in Shelbyville's Forest Park for more than a century. They recently met with Springfield architect Chuck Pell to review a comprehensive plan for restoring the building.

"The first Shelbyville Chautauqua was held July 25 to Aug. 4 at 'Fairgrounds Park,' " Pell read from a 1901 edition of the Shelbyville Democrat. He said the first event included lectures, sermons, impersonations, entertainment and music.

The next year, the Chautauqua Committee hired Morrison H. Vail of Dixon to provide plans for the Chautauqua Building, based on a nearly identical building he had designed for Dixon. Vail's patented clear-space construction plan resulted in a 20-sided building constructed by area bridge builder H.B. Tripp.

Vail's detailed drawings show what makes the circular building unique. A system of pulleys and cabling allows the open interior, which could hold up to 5,000 people.

Pell showed photos of decay in the building, including the warped beams and sprung cables, and said restoring it was something the city could do on a piece-by-piece or overall plan. A complete restoration could cost $1.75 million.

"But with that, the building could last another 105 years," Pell said. He said that with the loss of the Dixon Chautauqua in a fire in the 1940s, Shelbyville's building is of statewide and national significance, meaning it could qualify for a wider variety of restoration grants.

"I believe this is a truly significant building and needs to be recognized," Pell said. "I'm going to work on that."

Noel Bolinger, Shelbyville Public Building and Grounds Commissioner, said the building had been repaired after storm damage in the 1970s, and more recently, replacements for the clerestory windows had been purchased.

"They can't be put in because the wood in the frames is rotten," Bolinger said. "There's not been a record kept of repairs, and it's hard to know what's been done."

Pell said he would provide copies of his report to the city council, Shelbyville Public Library and Shelby County Historical Society.

"While Noel will have the working copy, it is important to keep the record in a permanent location so that as time passes, anyone who needs to can access it and see what the particulars of the plan are," he said.

Sharon Mosley can be reached at sharonhrnews@yahoo.com.