Health & Fitness
Blast from the Past: Old Village Hall to be Razed to Spur Retail
It was 13 years ago....
Lisle Village Hall To Be Razed, Rebuilt
Move To New Location May Spur Retail Growth
In a move destined to help the village's downtown revitalization efforts, Lisle trustees unanimously decided Monday that the 100-year-old Village Hall should be torn down and replaced with a new facility near the fire station on Burlington Avenue.
The trustees' selection will free up Village Hall's prominent downtown Main Street and Burlington Avenue site, opening the corner to the possibility of much-desired retail development.
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Building near the fire station had been called the "best bang for the buck" by architectural consultants. Trustees also had been weighing remodeling or adding to the current cramped building or tearing it down and rebuilding on the same site.
Mark Bushhouse, an architect with Wheaton-based Williams Associates Ltd., has estimated the trustees' choice will cost about $9.5 million, which includes the demolition of the current building, site planning, construction and moving costs.
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The new location also would allow for future expansion.
Consultants have suggested a 32,000-square-foot, two-story building with a basement.
Village Manager Carl Doerr told trustees Monday that the new facility's size reflects the staff's assessment of its current and future space needs and allows for storage, support services and a Village Board meeting room.
But, he said, the size and design have not been "etched in stone."
The village learned two years ago that it would need a new facility after a study by the architectural firm noted the mazelike condition of Village Hall, housed in an old school. At the time the village shared space for its municipal offices with the Lisle Police Station, but the Police Department moved to a new facility last month.
In March, trustees hired the firm again to update its study and create a master plan of options for Village Hall after the Police Department had vacated the building.
The cheapest alternative--remodeling the current facility--would have cost about $4.5 million but would have served the village's needs for only about 10 years. Cost estimates for the remodeling or addition options also included housing village staff at another site that would have to be rented or working around village employees by remodeling the building in segments, adding months to construction time.
Village officials have said that about $5 million is in the current budget for a new Village Hall and some of the additional cost could be offset by selling the current site to another developer.
Trustee Ann Duker also raised the possibility Monday of placing the new building on the site so that retail space could be added along Burlington Avenue, particularly, she said, because the Burlington Northern rail line might be receptive to redevelopment of its commuter lot across the street.
"If we set our building back, we have the opportunity of capturing those commuters. ... They would have to walk through our commercial zone," Duker said.
Though reminding trustees that Monday's discussion was only to choose a Village Hall option, Mayor Ron Ghilardi agreed the area has potential to generate increased revenue.
"A lot of people may not realize this," Ghilardi said, "but from the street curb in front of this building on Main Street all the way east along Burlington to the far end of the historical district [about three blocks away] is off the tax rolls. And if you go a half-block over to the north you can add all the property occupied by the Fire District, which is also off the tax rolls.
"So as we talk about doing something with the downtown area, it strikes me again just looking at our parcel and leaving the Fire District issue aside for the time being, we have the ability to make significant moves to get some form of commercial development there to get our off-the-tax-rolls property active again. And to me that is the real advantage to what we are talking about," he said.
- August 23, 2000|By Barbara Sherlock, Tribune Staff Writer.
