Des Plaines city buys iconic bowling alley
The Des Plaines city council Tuesday night voted to purchase Sim's Bowl and Lounge in downtown to spur redevelopment.
The vote was 5-3 in favor of buying the iconic downtown bowling alley at 1555 Ellinwood Ave. for $862,500 from Midwest Bank.
Aldermen Patti Haugeberg (1st Ward), John Robinson (2nd), Jean Higgason (4th), James Brookman (5th), and Mark Walsten (6th) voted in favor of the deal. Aldermen Dan Wilson (7th Ward), Rosemary Argus (8th) and Matt Bogusz (3rd) voted against it.
The city would have to issue bonds to buy the property as its downtown tax increment financing district, or TIF No. 1, has roughly $800,000 to $900,000 remaining in it as of the end of 2009, City Finance Director Dorothy Wisniewski said.
Wisniewski said the debt payment for TIF No. 1 will drop by $1.2 million at the end of 2011 when a portion of the existing bonds are paid off. Therefore the city can take on the additional debt and structure it so repayment begins in 2012.
City officials haven't yet said what they plan to do with the bowling alley, but it is likely it will be sold to a developer down the road. Until then, the city could use the site as a parking lot once the building is razed, which would cost roughly $100,000, officials have said.
Sim's had been a fixture in downtown for 55 years before it succumbed to foreclosure. Midwest Bank took over Sim's on June 7 from the Caparelli family that had owned and operated the bowling alley and adjacent cocktail lounge and Depot Pizza.
Family members at the time said they could no longer afford to pay a $925,000 mortgage and real estate taxes on the roughly 27,000-square-foot property with dwindling customers.
Several aldermen have said they believe buying Sim's is a good investment, despite the city's own financial troubles that led to the elimination of nearly 40 employee positions through early retirement, attrition and layoffs this year.
The city also is raising various taxes and fees this year to fund operations and cut a more than $5 million deficit down to $1.4 million.
"It became a piece of property that the city aldermen felt compelled to purchase at this time because of the price," Des Plaines Mayor Marty Moylan said.
Some detractors on the council believe buying any piece of property in this economy is a bad idea especially because the city does not have a good track record of dealing in real estate.
"I will be commenting on the vote I took on the open floor not to purchase the Sim's property, " Bogusz said.
"We need to learn from past mistakes and avoid unnecessarily assuming positions of risk."