Arlington Heights to discuss Lutheran Home project Tuesday

The Arlington Heights Village Board will take up a controversial Lutheran Home remodeling proposal at its Tuesday night meeting and officials said they are expecting a big crowd.

Lutheran Home, a senior living community based in Arlington Heights, is asking for several variances to allow for renovation and additions to the Olson Pavillion, 800 W. Oakton St.

The health care pavilion currently has 252 rooms for both rehabilitation and long-term nursing home patients, but since the infrastructure was built in the 1970s, officials say it is time for necessary updates including more parking and providing private bathrooms in each room.

The main building will have 162 rooms after the remodeling and a 78-room addition is planned for a new wing, reducing the total number of rooms available to 240, said Charles Perkins, planning and community development director for the village.

Perkins said the parking expansion is to address problems of employees and visitors parking on neighborhood streets and that the new proposal from Lutheran Home — updated since the last plan commission meeting — now exceeds the number of spaces village staff suggested.

Lutheran Home officials appeared before a packed plan commission meeting on July 20 where residents expressed concerns about many details of the project, which has been in the works for years.

“It is surrounded by residential homes and a number of the residents felt this was too big of an expansion,” Perkins said. “They also had concerns about parking, drainage, landscaping and things of that nature, which are all legitimate concerns that we’ve tried to address throughout the planning process.”

The plan commission approved the proposal by a 5-4 vote, a close margin, but Perkins said developers have made some changes since that meeting to accommodate the concerns of both staff and residents.

Village Manager Bill Dixon said he is expecting the meeting to be crowded on Tuesday night and that the adjacent community room at village hall will be open for overflow space.

The Arlington Heights Village Board meets at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 4, at village hall, 33 S. Arlington Heights Road.