Board welcomes new village hall

There's nothing like that that "new village hall" smell -- fresh wood mixed with the light scent of new paint.

Sitting behind a huge desk and under the village seal, Arlington Heights officials called their first meeting to order in the new village hall on Monday.

"We are kicking off many, many new years at this new village hall," said Village President Arlene Mulder.

Mulder, along with each of the eight trustees, used a computer screen to look through renderings during the meeting. The computers weren't hooked up to the Internet and are used only to look at drawings that the public can also see on a huge 12-foot-by-15-foot screen, said Village Manager Bill Dixon.

Another new feature is an electronic clock that times residents addressing the board. Each resident has three minutes.

In April 2006, the old village hall was demolished to make room for the new 75,000-square-foot building. The old village hall was 32,000 square feet.

The new hall is named John G. Woods Municipal Campus, in honor of the former village president. 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 size and population. Woods died Oct. 31, 2003, one day shy of his 82nd birthday.

The new village hall is expected to last about 50 years.