Hoffman Estates plans improvements for Village Green

Hoffman Estates trustees gave preliminary approval Monday to nearly $200,000 in improvements to make the Virginia Mary Hayter Village Green more accessible to concert goers and user-friendly for vendors who will operate on the site during upcoming Northwest Fourth Fests.

The village's Public Works Department will complete the first phase of the work — extending water and sanitary service from a concession building to an area just east for a future “food vendor area” — in time for next year's Fourth Fest, the annual festival put on jointly by Hoffman Estates, Elgin, Hanover Park and Hanover Township.

Trustee Michael Gaeta said putting the vendors in one spot would be a huge improvement for the festival.

The Village Green is a 13.4-acre site Sears constructed in 1993 at 5510 Prairie Stone Parkway, east of Beverly Road and north of the Jane Addams Tollway (Interstate 90). Besides the Fourth Fest, the sites hosts the village's Summer Sounds on the Green free concert series, as well as Platzkonzert Germanfest, the annual Oktoberfest-style celebration held in the fall.

For Phase 2 of the improvements, the village will hire a contractor to improve and enlarge sidewalks at the green. Installing grass pavers — pavers that look more natural because grass grows through holes — will create a turning area at the amphitheater for small delivery trucks and cars.

Phase 3, which will begin after the 2014 Fourth Fest, will include flattening a hill to make it easier for people to walk from the west Sears Centre Arena parking lot to the Village Green and food vendor area. Late summer construction will give grass time to grow.

Village staff estimates the project will cost $188,000.

The plan will be before village trustees Monday, Dec. 16 for possible final approval.