Why Carol Stream employees may move out of village hall

If you live in Carol Stream and have a water bill to pay, you may be making the trek to a site other than village hall next year when construction begins on a major expansion of the Gary Avenue building.

Village business could relocate for the duration of the 14-month project, tentatively scheduled to break ground in spring 2017 and costing between $13.1 million and $15.6 million.

Trustees will vote Monday on hiring a construction manager, who would help officials decide whether it's more cost-effective and convenient for employees to move out of the 40,400-square-foot building that also houses Carol Stream police, Assistant Village Manager Bob Mellor said.

But the initial thinking is that setting up shop at an alternative site during construction makes sense because of the project's complexity, Mellor said Wednesday.

Under preliminary plans, crews would demolish a portion of the building, excavate the ground below and build a three-level addition.

The size of village hall would grow by 15,000 to 20,000 square feet.

Besides planning for the addition, architects also are calling for remodeling and a new layout for the rest of the building at 500 N. Gary Ave.

To improve access for residents, departments that primarily deal with the public - finance, engineering and most of the police department's divisions - would be located on the main floor.

A village board room would go from the main floor to a second level also housing offices for administrators.

Trustees will review those interior plans and exterior renderings during a special workshop 6 p.m. Monday.

Then at a regular meeting starting at 7:30 p.m., the board will vote on a contract with a construction manager who also would develop designs and could help find available offices or a warehouse to hold village business.

"We'd all work toward a design that falls within the budget," Mellor said.

General fund reserves - built up by operational surpluses - have been transferred to the village's capital projects fund to cover the cost of the renovations and addition.

"We don't plan on issuing any bonds to do this," Mellor said. "We intend to use cash on hand."

It's not the first time staff members have temporarily moved out of village hall. During remodels more than a decade ago, some police department employees worked in a Bloomingdale administrative building that the owner, Carol Stream Elementary District 93, wasn't using.

"We can't have them too far away just because they need to respond to calls in Carol Stream," Mellor said of police.

Williams Architects, a village-hired firm, has said the building is undersized and needs security upgrades.

Built in 1979, the village hall was designed for about 30 full-time employees and now houses 165.

For the project to proceed, trustees have to approve final designs, and then the construction manager would bid out the work to subcontractors.

If the project stays on schedule, Mellor said, all of the village departments would move back into the building in July or August 2018.