Hoffman Estates panel on board with plan for temporary Obama archives
Hoffman Estates planning and zoning commissioners Wednesday unanimously recommended approval of a plan to convert the former Plunkett Furniture building on Golf Road into a temporary storage facility for the archives of the future Barack Obama presidential library in Chicago.
The village board is scheduled to vote on final approval of the project Monday, July 11.
Though commissioners asked standard questions about traffic, landscaping and security Wednesday, they also acknowledged this wasn't a run-of-the-mill proposal.
"I'm excited about it," Commissioner Sharron Boxenbaum said. "I think it's exciting to be a part of history for Hoffman Estates."
The proposal was made by the current owner of the building - Hoffman Estates Medical Development LLC - which plans to lease its 74,200 square feet to the National Archives and Records Administration for up to six years if necessary.
The building at 2500 W. Golf Road would employ about 120 people during that time to assess the archived materials.
The temporary facility would not be open to the public for viewing of the archives, and it would include upgrades such as gating the parking lot to make it more secure.
The archive would have very few visitors, who would enter the parking lot from Golf Road. All employees and truck deliveries would be made via another gate at the northwest corner of the lot, reached by Barrington Road or an unnamed street between the property and a neighboring Walgreens.
The building's service to the archives would end with the completion of the Barack Obama Presidential Center on the South Side of Chicago, near the University of Chicago.
Just last week, the Barack Obama Foundation announced the two architectural firms that will collaborate on the presidential center's design. They are Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects based in New York City and Interactive Design Architects of Chicago.