Kane County committee clears way for youth home demolition

With a new jail and sheriff's office operating at full speed, a Kane County subcommittee took the first step in clearing the structures on the campus that formerly hosted those services.

The Administration Committee of the Kane County Board unanimously approved the demolition of the former Kane County Youth Home at a price of about $72,000 Thursday. The cost does not include the nearly $35,000 price of removing the asbestos in the structure, which most recently served as extra storage space for sheriff's department evidence.

When it hits the full county board for approval, demolition of the youth home will signal the first step in clearing all the structures from the old Fabyan Parkway government campus in Geneva. County staff expects to accomplish that sometime in 2009. Staff said they believe removing all the structures from the site - and the asbestos most of them contain - will elevate the value of the property for any would-be development. County staff is recommending the sale of the site, but the county board has not yet formally addressed its intentions.

Also undecided Thursday was a request by the Village of Algonquin to take GIS data it receives from the county and publish it for free on its Web site.

Among other things, the data contains detailed property information, including the names and addresses of landowners and sometimes photos of homes. All the information is publicly available already, but the GIS system brings it together in one convenient format.

Committee members expressed some privacy concerns about releasing the data to Algonquin. The committee decided it wanted more information on possible downsides and options available to limit what data is given to Algonquin for publication before deciding how to proceed.