Mundelein’s old Sigma building headed for demolition
An empty building that stands in the way of Mundelein’s long-proposed downtown redevelopment could be razed next week.
The site in the cross hairs is the former Sigma Services building, 225 E. Hawley St. The village board bought the 10-acre site in 2010 for about $7 million, and plans call for a new village hall to be built there, among other possible developments.
The board on Monday unanimously agreed to hire Omega Demolition of Elgin to handle the work, which could begin Monday, Oct. 31.
“It’s truly exciting,” Trustee Ray Semple said. “Once the building is leveled, people are going to realize how big a piece of property it is.”
The demolition could cost $723,965, officials said.
The contract calls for Omega to be paid an estimated base amount of $674,546. Village leaders anticipate paying an additional $49,419 for the disposal of non-recyclable material, such as wood and fiberglass, Assistant Village Administrator Michael Flynn said.
Such items must be dumped in a landfill, and the charge is based on quantity, Flynn said.
After selling the building, Sigma Services stayed in Mundelein. The company, which makes packing materials, moved to a nearby village-owned site at 165 N. Archer Ave.
The Archer and Hawley addresses are separated by the parking lot for the town’s Metra train station, and the village owns the lot, too.
The properties long have been considered the heart of a possible downtown district for Mundelein.
The current downtown proposal, on the books since 2004, calls for significant construction near the train station. A new village hall, stores, condominiums and other landmarks have been mentioned.
A special taxing district was created in the area to collect property-tax revenue to help fund the project, but the struggling economy has slowed development, Semple said.
As a result, officials are open to other options in the area.
“We’re trying to be very open-minded with the redevelopment, he said.
The plan is different from the downtown improvement proposal the village board launched in the mid-1990s but aborted after a few years.
That effort called for wider sidewalks, old-fashioned streetlights, planters and other aesthetic upgrades for the existing retail area around Route 45 and Hawley Street.
Although some improvements were made, the plan ran late from the beginning and was indefinitely put on hold after just a few years.
In addition to hiring Omega Demolition, trustees on Monday voted to authorize the village staff to seek proposals from consultants for a new master redevelopment plan for the area around the train station.