Wheeling approves new Korean community center

Wheeling trustees approved a new Korean Cultural Center Monday that could attract hundreds of people to the area when it opens this fall.

The center will fill about 32,000 square feet in five vacant buildings at the Capitol Commerce Center at Palatine and Wolf roads.

In addition to a museum and small theater, the center also will feature classrooms, offices and a day care center. Some of the classes the center will offer include Korean cooking classes, martial arts and culture-related seminars, according to a Wheeling village staff report.

The center also may add a coffee shop and gift shop in the future, the report states.

"We looked everywhere for a place and couldn't find anything that fit our needs until this," said Younghee Kim Kang, chairwoman of the Korean Cultural Center of Chicago, after Monday's meeting. "Then we found this and it was a good price."

When the Korean center opens in Wheeling, it will be unique in the Midwest, Kang said. There are about 150,000 Korean-Americans living in Chicago and its suburbs, she said.

"Any time we can get a new audience (to come to Wheeling), it will be beneficial," Trustee Patrick Horcher said before casting his vote.

The only downside to the approving the nonprofit center is that it won't pay real estate taxes, Trustee Dean Argiris said.

"I think what they're doing is wonderful, but we have to be cautious about what we're taking off the tax rolls," he said.

Currently, the center's property owner pays $112,000 per year in real estate taxes. The village portion of those taxes is about $11,000, according to Wheeling finance officials.

However, Kang said the center will make up for the village's loss in tax revenue.

"We want to build up a partnership with Wheeling to compensate," she said. "We will talk to Korean businesses and bring visitors to the center."

Kang expects between 200 and 300 people to regularly visit the center in Wheeling once it moves from its location at 3433 W. Diversey Ave. in Chicago.