Elgin storefront to open as upscale dental office

A vacant downtown Elgin storefront is making its way back from the brink, and is scheduled to open as an upscale dental office by the end of the year.

Dr. Brandon Becker of Long Grove bought 14-16 Douglas Ave. in December 2006 and is rehabbing the first floors of both buildings for a new dental office called Tongue and Cheek and possibly other commercial space.

A new first-floor front to the building is scheduled for installation within weeks, with an opening sometime later this year.

Becker said he and his wife were searching for another location to expand his 19-year Becker Dental Co. business from its base in Lansing. While having a meal at the former Café Magdalena, now Villa Verone on Douglas Ave., the vacant Kale Uniform Co. across the street caught the couple's eye.

"We had been looking for a place for the past 10 years looking for the small-town feel of Lansing but bigness of Chicago and had driven through a lot of different towns, including St. Charles and Hoffman Estates," said Becker. "Interestingly, we were at Café Magdalena because of its roots from the Café Borgia in Lansing, near where I grew up.

"We just loved everything about the area and saw the gentrification going on. It was very cool. It was like downtown Elgin on Douglas could become the downtown Michigan Avenue in Chicago."

While gutting much of the first floor of the century-old building this past year, Becker said crews discovered treasures and artifacts revealing some of its history. There was an original tin ceiling, which Becker said he plans to use in his new space, along with what appears to be a portion of the building once used as a large refrigerator.

E.C. "Mike" Alft, an Elgin historian who has studied business uses throughout the downtown over the decades, could not confirm the building's former uses but thought before Kale Uniforms took it over, it was known as Tony White Shoes.

"As far as use is a grocery store is concerned, that is possible," said Alft. "Douglas Avenue was a major hub in the downtown."

Becker said he also found what appears to be a turn-of-the-century, cast iron advertising marquee that retailers placed on the sidewalk promoting their wares. Using some items he found in the building and pieces he purchased elsewhere, he also plans to display the gears of a clock, or its "teeth," said Becker. He also saved the old Kale Uniform sign and may display it somewhere in the dental office.

"With our name of Tongue and Cheek, there also will be a few surprises in store that we will reveal later," he explained.

Becker said the office part of the building will be a dental boutique offering full dental services, along with a dermatologist who will perform natural skin peels and possibly even minor cosmetic surgery such as Botox injections. At some point, he may lease a small cafe in one of the storefronts.

"This will not be a high-end, snobby sort of business that only a few can afford," he said. "Our motto will be to provide the extraordinary for the ordinary person."