Arts center plan arises again for Naperville station

An ambitious proposal for redevelopment near Naperville's Fifth Avenue train station appears to have resurfaced.

The Omnia Performing Arts Association is starting to make community presentations about their concepts for a performing arts center. However, details are still scarce and no formal proposal has been submitted to the city.

"The project is conceived in its entirety as an economic way to bring a true performing arts center to the people of Naperville," the Omnia board said in a news release Friday.

Little has been heard from the group since it made presentations to city council members and civic leaders last fall and President Bev Patterson Frier would not discuss the proposal when contacted by telephone Friday.

But the group made a presentation to the Rotary Club earlier this week.

Earlier proposals have included a 2,500-seat theater, condos and retail space, and Councilman Kenn Miller said those basic components seemed to still be intact in the latest proposal he saw at the Rotary meeting, although there were few details given at the time.

The group is proposing the development at the site of Naperville's current public works facility, which is being rebuilt on the city's west side. The site also includes land owned by Metra and the Boecker family.

In light of its plan to relocate its public works department, Naperville is undergoing a study of this Fifth Avenue area to develop recommendations about land use, parking and transportation issues. The process will include public hearings and input from the plan commission and city council.

At some point in that process, Councilman James Boyajian said development proposals such as Omnia's will likely be brought forward.

Marcie Schatz, the city's director of transportation, engineering and development, confirmed Omnia has not yet submitted a formal proposal to the city.

"My biggest concern is that the public needs to understand there is no clandestine project agreement that the city has been part of at all," Boyajian said. "We all are very insistent this is going to go through whatever public hearing and vetting process any proposal would go through."

While he hasn't seen a firm cost for the Omnia proposal, he expects it would be "hundreds of millions." He and Councilman Grant Wehrli both said Friday they would take issue with the proposal if it includes public financing.

"If it's something the residents of Naperville demonstrate they want or need I'd consider it but right now I don't see the big cry for this in Naperville," said Wehrli, who has not seen any recent Omnia presentations. "The city is not in the business of running a fine arts center and I don't think we should be."

Thom Higgins, president of the Park Addition Homeowners Association, said in addition to public financing, he is also concerned about the height of the buildings proposed that could reach 130-feet tall. He'd also like to see more public presentation of Omnia's entire proposal.

Omnia planned to hold a meeting Monday night to do just that but announced Friday afternoon it had been postponed. It will eventually do a series of small meetings around the community.

In a news release Friday, the Omnia board said it has nothing to hide, but believes "a large meeting would not be productive for meaningful interaction.

"The OMNIA proposal is both simple and complex to understand," the board said. "It has facts and nuances that must be explained carefully and fully to be understood properly."