'Significant' fountain planned for site of old Vernon Hills tavern
It's been a long time coming, but work to transform the big hole at the northwest corner of Route 45 and Milwaukee Avenue into a signature water feature for Vernon Hills is on deck.
"We'd like to start pouring concrete," said John Thomas, president of Newport Builders Inc.
The company, in partnership with The Taxman Corp., is building the Vernon Hills Town Center, a shopping/residential area envisioned for years by village officials as the place to make a statement.
Planned for 60,000 square feet of retail space and 80 condos in four buildings, the VHTC, as it has become known, is a separate but related part of a unified development fanning away from the gateway corner.
Construction of roads, underground utilities and some residential buildings that are part of the Opus North Corp.'s Port Clinton Place condo/townhouse project to the west have been evident for some time.
But it is the water feature planned for the corner - the former Half Day Inn tavern site - that is envisioned as an attention getter.
"It's significant. It will have a tremendous presence," says Stacy Taxman, who is seeking tenants for the retail portion of the VHTC. "We'd like the significant restaurant users to hug the water feature."
Budgeted by Newport at about $700,000, the feature will be substantial.
"It's not particularly large but it will have a very impressive visual impact from the corner. It will be very important to our development," Thomas said.
A lighted fountain able to spray water 30 feet in the air is the centerpiece. It will have a sensor that stops the flow when winds exceed 15 mph, so as not to soak pedestrians or customers on the walkway above.
But the bulk of the cost has nothing to do with water.
To provide more buildable space, a 350-foot long poured concrete retaining wall will wrap around the northern and western portion of the water feature. The wall will be 16 feet tall, but only half of it will be visible, according to Thomas.
It will be made of concrete stamped to resemble Lannon stone quarried in Wisconsin, and stained in three or four colors to provide a realistic finish. Natural quarried Lannon stone will be used for the monument sign and outcroppings along sections of the pond.
The retaining wall represents nearly half the cost. Adding to the expense is a 950-foot well to provide a separate water source for the fountain and irrigation.
Development of the corner has been in the works about six years, when the village designated the area - and the corner south across Route 45 - as a special taxing district.
As such, the village is a partner and has contributed millions of dollars toward land acquisition and other parts of the project. The fountain is a reimbursable expense from tax district funds.
From the beginning, it was known a stormwater retention area would have to be built. What that would entail became more elaborate over the years as the village board began to envision it as a landmark.
"I think the village wanted to make a statement," Thomas said.