Wheaton park board to weigh in on museum move

DuPage County's main plan for the future of its historical museum now matches the main plan for the future of the Wheaton Park District offices.

Wheaton Park District Executive Director Mike Benard said he'll present an proposal to park board members on Wednesday to move the district's headquarters to the DuPage County Historical Museum.

That would give park commissioners their first chance to publicly weigh-in on the potential move.

Benard will pitch the plan as a idea that doesn't take any more property off of Wheaton's tax roll. Benard said having offices at the museum also would allow the park district to promote the museum while having a more useful workspace.

The park district's main office currently is in a building on the corner of Main Street and Roosevelt Road, across the street from Hubble Middle School.

Hubble is set to be sold. The land associated with it will be redeveloped. It may make sense for the park district to include their current headquarters in that redevelopment to also turn a buck in moving to the museum.

However, the redevelopment of Hubble is not a necessary part of moving the park district's headquarters, Benard said.

"Regardless of the Hubble development, this building we're in is an inadequate building," Benard said Thursday. "It's lived its useful life."

The park district has examined the space available at the museum and is confident it can fit all or most of the main office staff in the building and still maintain a museum.

Benard said he expects to have the park board ready to make a decision on the move either right before or right after the county board makes a decision.

"How fast it occurs is an unknown at this point," Benard said.

A county board committee is scheduled discuss the proposal on April 15.

DuPage Historical Museum Association members Veronica Porter and Paula Pezza didn't immediately respond to interview requests Thursday.