New Arlington Heights village hall to open this month
In a few weeks, paying for your village sticker will be a little more pleasant for Arlington Heights residents.
That's because a new, almost $30 million village hall will open for business at 8 a.m. Jan. 22.
Village employees have been working out of a temporary spot at Kennicott and Dundee roads for about two years while the old village hall was torn down and the new one built.
"Everyone is looking forward to returning to downtown," said Assistant to the Village Manager Diana Mikula. "We're kind of working from an outpost out here. It's pretty quiet."
The official move will take place on Jan. 18 and Jan. 21 when both the temporary village hall and the new hall will be closed. "Unofficial" moving began this week, Mikula said.
"We received 600 moving crates (on Thursday), so it's started," she said.
In total, about 100 village employees -- including those from the planning, finance, legal and engineering departments -- will be moved.
After the move, village board and other village meetings will continue to be held at the Arlington Heights Senior Center, 1801 W. Central Road, while the finishing touches are completed on the new board room.
The new village hall is part of the John G. Woods Municipal Campus, located at the northeast corner of Arlington Heights Road and Sigwalt Street. The campus includes the new village hall, fire station No. 1, which opened in 2006, and the police headquarters.
Woods led Arlington Heights as village president from 1961 to 1969 and again from 1972 to 1973. It was a period of explosive growth for the village in both area and population. Woods died Oct. 31, 2003, one day shy of his 82nd birthday.
The new village hall will be about 75,000 square feet, more than twice the size of the former village hall, which was 32,000 square feet.
The village's mailing address will remain 33 S. Arlington Heights Road and the village's phone and fax numbers will remain unchanged.
Village officials have been talking about building a new village hall for the past 10 years. The existing village hall was built in 1962 with a second floor added in 1968.
A dedication ceremony and open house are planned for the spring.
Finding your way
Here's where things will be in the new 72,000-square-foot Arlington Heights village hall:
First floor: finance, health and building departments for residents who want to make payments, obtain voting information, participate in health screenings or apply for permits.
Second floor: planning and finance departments
Third floor: village president's office, village manager's office, human resources and legal department. The village board room will also eventually open on the third floor.