Fox Lake loses second car dealership

For the second time in five months, the village of Fox Lake is losing a car dealership on Route 12, and the sales tax revenue that comes with it.

Fox Lake Ford has shut its doors after more than 30 years, officials confirmed late Wednesday.

"Everyone is devastated at the loss of another large sales revenue," said Mayor Cindy Irwin. "Not only does it hurt the employees of that dealership, but it also kills our sales tax. It's devastating."

In December, Fox Lake Chrysler/Dodge shut its doors, citing lagging sales. It was directly across Route 12 from the Ford dealership.

The closure also is going to mean another vacancy on the village's busiest commercial corridor.

"All I can say is that we will work as hard as we can to try and replace those businesses," Irwin said. "We are left totally speechless. This really hurts our economy."

The dealer has talked about leaving Fox Lake for several years. In 2000, Ford officials announced they had purchased land on Route 12 in Volo and would be shutting down the Fox Lake dealership and moving. However, the land purchased was unbuildable, officials said, and the dealer stayed in Fox Lake.

Then, in 2006, Ford officials said they would sell their land to the group currently working to build a hotel behind the dealership, on Route 12 near Eagle Point Road.

However, the hotel development has stalled in the past year due to the sagging economy.

Trustee Ed Bender, who is running against Irwin for mayor in April, said he isn't really surprised by the shutdown because of the economy. But he said the loss of revenue to the village is tough.

"I have already contacted developers to let them know that property could come up for sale in the coming months because of the shutdown," he said. "But, it's a tough blow."