Palatine settles into temporary village hall

Work could begin as early as November on the $12.7 million renovation of Palatine's village hall, officials say.

Village Manager Reid Ottesen said the village is reviewing bids from contractors for the work, which is expected to take at least 12 months to complete.

The renovation will modernize the look and reorganize the interior of the 62-year-old former Palatine High School building, which houses village offices and the Palatine Park District, officials said.

Among the more striking planned changes are roof improvements that will let more light into the building. A portion of the second floor above the lobby will be opened up to allow natural light to travel all the way down to the main floor.

While work is being done, the village will operate out of a temporary village hall at 150 W. Wilson St., a former BMO Harris Bank office building.

Ottesen said the move to the temporary location, which is less than a third of the size of the current village hall, went better than expected.

“We're fully functional, we never had a day of shutdown, so we stayed open all the way throughout the process,” he said.

While the village hall is being renovated, village council meetings will take place at the Palatine police station, 595 N. Hicks Road. Mayor Jim Schwantz thanked police for being great hosts when the council held its first meeting at the station Monday night.

Council meetings will continue to be broadcast on television, but a system to archive meeting videos on the village website has not been put in place yet.

Ottesen said the village council could choose the contractor for the renovations as early as the Oct. 20 or Nov. 3 council meetings.