Prospect Heights city hall extending hours, holding grand opening

Prospect Heights will host a grand opening in celebration of its $2.5 million city hall in the afternoon of Sunday, Oct. 12, so residents will be able to meet city bigwigs and take a stroll through the recently carpeted halls, city officials said.

The exact time of the open house is still being worked out, but it will offer residents the chance to peruse the city's newest public building, which opened for business in July. Refreshments will be available.

"Residents will be able to walk around every square inch of their new city hall," said Mayor Pat Ludvigsen.

Decorated in forest green and taupe, the hall has been open for limited days of operation at 8 N. Elmhurst Road. The hall is closed on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

But beginning the first week of October, the hall will be open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The building is on the same footprint as the old one, which was a retrofitted real estate office the city moved into a decade ago.

While the building is almost identical, there are some significant changes, including a fire sprinkler system, which the old building didn't have. That omission cost the village its hall when an arsonist set it on fire about two years ago.

The person who splattered the city hall with accelerant has not been caught. Fire insurance covered most of the rebuilding cost, city officials said.

For the past two years, the city's nine employees had been working out of the Prospect Heights police station basement. The staff has been working in the new hall since July.