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Latest downtown plan divides Mundelein trustees

Demolition plans that are key to a proposed downtown development are progressing in Mundelein.

The village board on Monday agreed to seek bids to raze of the former Sigma Services building, 225 E. Hawley St. The board purchased the 10-acre site in 2010 for about $7 million.

Village plans call for a new village hall to be built there, and for the site to be the heart of a long-stagnant downtown district.

But the project doesn't have unanimous support on the board. Trustee Terri Voss questioned its potential cost Monday.

“In this economic time, is this what we should be doing?” Voss asked the rest of the panel. “Do we really think we're going to have the money to commit to moving this project forward?”

Other trustees supported the concept. Chief among them was Ed Sullivan, who said people have been asking “Where is downtown” in Mundelein for 40 years.

“We're on the cusp of answering that question,” he said.

Sullivan said he believes an economic recovery is at hand and “there is no better time” to start the project.

Mundelein officials have wanted to move out of the existing village hall at 440 E. Hawley St. for years, complaining it's small and antiquated.

Sigma Services, which makes packing materials, already has moved to a nearby village-owned site at 165 N. Archer Ave.

The Archer Avenue building was purchased by the village in 2005 for more than $5 million and was intended to be a new village hall, but that plan folded in 2007.

The two parcels are separated by the parking lot for the town's Metra train station. The village owns the lot, too.

The original plan for the old Sigma property called for two buildings to be erected. One was to be a new village hall, and the other would've been for an environmental restoration and construction firm called Weston Solutions that has wanted to relocate from an office in Vernon Hills.

But the plan has changed, according to a memo from Village Administrator John Lobaito.

Now, one building — destined to be village hall — will be built, and Weston Solutions will occupy the second floor, the memo states.

The proposed deal would have the village board hire Weston to serve as the general contractor for the building and for the company to oversee site improvements.

A divided village board approved a nonbinding set of terms with Weston Solutions on Monday, with Mayor Kenneth H. Kessler breaking a 3-3 tie.

Voss, Steve Lentz and Robin Meier voted against the deal. Sullivan, Kessler, Ray Semple, and Jim Nutschnig favored it.

A more formal redevelopment agreement still is needed.

Mundelein buying downtown parcel for future village hall