Will old-time Choo Choo be chugging down the block?

Des Plaines' iconic Choo Choo restaurant could be pulling out of its longtime station to make way for a new police headquarters.

City planners want direction from aldermen in a Sept. 2 closed-door meeting on a plan to physically move the nearly 60-year-old Choo Choo restaurant, which for generations has amused children by delivering its fare on a toy train circling the diner counter.

"We'd have a plan to preserve the Choo Choo," said Michael Conlan, Des Plaines director of community and economic development. "It is iconic. It really helps define this community. I think people have an affinity for that building where you took your kids and grandkids."

But The Choo Choo restaurant owner Jean Paxton hopes to see the idea sputter out because she considers the current location part of its draw.

If aldermen opt to purchase the former Masonic Temple, 620 Lee St., the neighboring Choo Choo would have to be moved to allow for a new police headquarters, Conlan said.

The diner, now at 600 Lee St., would be moved 1,584 feet to the east, to a parking lot the city bought in 2003 for the Metropolitan Square development. The city paid $288,000 for the lot, at 520 S. River Road, and presently leases it to the Elks Lodge for parking and allows a sales trailer for a new condo development to park there.

Conlan on Thursday ventured to the downtown restaurant, just steps from city hall and the current police station, to speak with Paxton about the proposal that has been discussed in closed-door meetings.

Paxton, who took over the business in 2001, doesn't want to move. She likes the Choo Choo's proximity to the downtown train station.

"Moms get off the train every day and walk with their toddlers," she said. They're not going to walk to (River and) Elk Boulevard."

Conlan and Mayor Tony Arredia say so far, this is merely a proposal.

"The council hasn't made up its mind about anything," Arredia said.

City officials have no estimate for how much the move would cost. Arredia also questions the escalating price tag of such a project, which would include replacing the 34-year-old police station at 1418 E. Miner St. with a multimillion dollar modern facility, and buying the Masonic Temple. A few years ago, the 84-year-old temple sold for $2.1 million.

In this year's budget, Des Plaines officials OK'd spending $8.5 million to buy land for the police station, and $1.5 million for architectural drawings.

Paxton, the restaurant's third owner since it opened in 1951, also questions whether the 1,249-square-foot building could survive a move.

Conlan says it will. As evidence, he points to the history center's century-old Kinder House, which was moved to its current location. Conlan also says he helped move a 150-year-old train depot when he worked in Duluth, Minn.

Paxton concedes that she's at the whim of the property owner.

Conlan said he spoke to the Choo Choo's Chicago-based property owner about the potential land swap in February. Owner Bernard Barasch didn't return a phone call seeking comment on Friday.

The land could be traded under what the IRS terms a "1031 Like Kind Exchange," which allows the tax-deferred exchange of real estate, Conlan said.

The idea has at least one fan. Marilyn Ballowe, whose husband James opened the Choo Choo in 1951, thinks the River Road location would provide more parking, and as long as the Choo Choo keeps serving its grilled cheese, hot dogs, burgers and fries with a toot and a whistle, Ballowe supports it.

Moving it beats losing it, she added.

"I think the children would object to there not being a Choo Choo," she said.