Lake in the Hills officials to consider Hindu temple proposal
Lake in the Hills village officials next week will consider a proposal for a Hindu temple targeted for roughly 2.4 acres formerly housing a church.
Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha Midwest Inc., which has a temple in Bartlett, has applied for a conditional religious use at 1300 Cunat Court. The property is zoned as multifamily dwelling district.
BAPS, a Hindu denomination, is headquartered in Piscataway, New Jersey. It is a volunteer-driven nonprofit dedicated to upholding spiritual values and humanitarian services.
The group plans to take over the existing structure - originally a fitness center later used by Crossway Church and the Northern Illinois Center for Autism - and use it for religious assemblies, said Manoj Patel of Crystal Lake, owner of Cunat Ct LLC of Prairie Grove.
"We've been doing (assemblies) for the last 15 years in Crystal Lake," said Patel, adding that roughly 40 devotees attend biweekly. "We are finding a permanent spot."
Worshippers currently rent space for religious services at the village hall.
The Lake in the Hills site will serve as a satellite location for BAPS' Bartlett temple - an elaborate, ornate structure iconic of traditional Indian architecture.
It took more than 450 craftsmen in India working in 12-hour shifts to carve the 108 Italian Carrara marble pillars that hold up the Bartlett temple, which cost roughly $30 million to build. That complex spans 170,000 square feet comprising three structures - two immense halls flanking a central white temple crowned with 15 domes made of Turkish limestone and white incandescent marble.
The temple in Lake in the Hills won't be as extravagant as there are no plans proposed to make physical changes to the property, said Fred Mullard, interim community development director.
Patel doesn't know the extent of renovations the building would need or exactly how many families it would serve within Kane and McHenry counties.
"We don't know anything about the demographic," he said.
The facility would be used from 2 to 9 p.m. Saturdays by 70 to 90 members, and from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and on Sundays by 20 to 30 members. It would house religious classes, prayer ceremonies, scripture readings, dining and community service activities.
"So it is not just a house of worship," Mullard said. "This is their opportunity to basically provide a house of worship to some of the (members) who are a little further away, and to be able to have some activities up here so people don't have to travel so far. There is a portion of the building that has open space, meeting rooms and offices."
As with other religious conditional uses, the applicant would be able to reapply for a conditional use permit after five years, documents show.
The village's planning and zoning commission reviewed the proposal last month and recommended approval of the conditional use. It goes before the village board Dec. 14.