Batavia Walgreens project gets extension

Batavia Enterprises Inc. will get a while longer to start building a new Walgreens in downtown Batavia.

The Batavia City Council is going to extend its deadline 120 days for getting a demolition permit for 122 W. Wilson St. On Tuesday, the joint committees of the whole recommended doing so.

Austin Dempsey, vice president of BEI, said the company is still negotiating a 75-year lease with Walgreens.

BEI was supposed to have applied for a demolition permit for the former Swanson's Hardware by Sept. 1, and start demolition no later than Oct. 31, according to the development agreement the city council approved in February. At that time, BEI representatives said Walgreens had agreed to a 25-year lease.

In the meantime, the space is being used temporarily by Anderson Animal Shelter, while it renovates its South Elgin facility.

Alderman Michael O'Brien reiterated his suggestion that BEI do something to encourage people to continue to shop at the strip center next door, which will be disrupted by the construction. BEI is doing so, Dempsey said, with the Plaza Bucks program it started this summer. Patrons to every business except a self-serve laundry can get a stamp on a card for every $5 in purchases they make, and turn in filled cards with a chance to win a $25 gift card.