Nicor breaks ground on Des Plaines facility
Nicor Gas held a ground breaking ceremony for its new Des Plaines regional facility on Wednesday, April 29.
The ceremony was held at the lot that will house the new facility - 1665 Birchwood. Once completed, the new building will house staff including field operations, construction and maintenance and meter reading.
"Nicor Gas has provided the Des Plaines community with safe and reliable natural gas service for many years, and our employees are proud supporters of the 73 Northwest Suburban United Way agencies that serve the Des Plaines community," said Rocco D'Alessandro, executive vice president operations for Nicor Gas. "As a company, we were a founding member of the Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce and we look forward to continuing our relationship with the city of Des Plaines. This new regional facility will allow us to consolidate some of our operations, providing optimal efficiency for our customers."
The Des Plaines regional facility will provide a number of enhanced benefits for managing field and system operations as it is strategically located to service current and future population growth. The lot is approximately five acres and the future building will be 31,000 square feet to accommodate office space, vehicles and storage. In designing and constructing this facility, Nicor Gas seeks Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification. LEED is an internationally recognized certification system that measures how well a building or community performs across all the metrics that matter most: energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality and stewardship of resources and sensitivity to their impacts.
"I am very pleased that Nicor Gas has chosen the 6th Ward to build their new regional facility. It is equally gratifying to know that they will seek LEED Silver Certification for this new facility, proving that the company is environmentally responsible and cares about the community," said Mark Walsten, 6th Ward alderman, city of Des Plaines.