West Chicago seeks input on redevelopment plan

West Chicago residents will get a chance next week to help shape the future of their downtown.

City officials plan to share conceptual plans for a large-scale redevelopment project along West Washington Street and to solicit public input during a development committee meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14, at city hall, 475 Main St.

The city has acquired more than a dozen properties with a combined frontage of roughly 750 feet along Washington with an eye toward attracting retail businesses and building a campus that could include a city hall, police station and park district recreation center, Community Development Director Joanne Kalchbrenner said Tuesday.

The city spent about three years buying the properties, including a house, gasoline station and vacant lot, between Fremont Street and the railroad tracks, she said.

Preliminary plans call for making the prime sites along Washington available for retail and using the long-vacant land behind them for the government complex.

City officials said they want to hear what residents have to say before directing their consultant, Chicago-based URS Corporation, to develop cost estimates and begin work on first-phase development plans.

Several other factors also still must be addressed before a timetable is set, Kalchbrenner said. One of the most important involves the need for environmental studies at a former scrap yard acquired by the city as part of the project.

Another involves the possible recreation center. While the city has purchased the land for such a facility, it’s up to the park district to determine if and when it wants to build it.

The district recently sent surveys to 5,000 residents to gauge support for a possible $19.8 million borrowing plan to fund numerous park projects, including the possible rec center.

Kalchbrenner said the city’s primary concern is attracting retail business to the downtown, especially a restaurant or two.

Some restaurant owners already have expressed interest in renovating an old railroad depot that largely had been overlooked until nearby buildings were demolished.

“All of a sudden people can see it, and the depot really stands out,” she said.

Work on the government complex likely would be done in stages, Kalchbrenner said, beginning with construction of a city hall to replace the existing antiquated facility housed in a former grocery store. The new police station would come later.

For details about the project or the development committee meeting, call Kalchbrenner at (630) 293-2200, ext. 141.