Longtime Bloomingdale administrator retiring

After 31 years of helping shape Bloomingdale's commercial and residential base, Village Administrator Dan Wennerholm has announced plans to retire.

Wennerholm, 62, will step down Nov. 5. He said his retirement plans are simply based on timing.

"It felt like a good decision to move along and spend more time with my grandkids and relax a little bit," he said.

Wennerholm came to Bloomingdale more than 31 years ago as the village engineer. On his very first day, crews were breaking ground on Stratford Square Mall and it was his job to oversee many of the roads and utilities that would spring up around the shopping center.

Shortly after construction began, Wennerholm said, the mall sparked residential growth in the village.

"So for the first 15 years or so there was a whole lot of construction," he said.

When Wennerholm first arrived in Bloomingdale, he said Schick Road was largely unpaved, Bloomingdale had only one bank, and its first major grocery store was just opening.

He became the village administrator in 1989 and has served in the same post since.

"I think the character of the community was pretty much a bedroom community, and while largely it still is, it has also turned into a town with a much more commercialized and strong retail base, along with a number of employment centers," Wennerholm said.

Village President Bob Iden said Wennerholm played a key role in Bloomingdale's boom, which is why last year Iden convinced him to stay one extra year beyond his 30th anniversary.

"He brought Bloomingdale through a lot of the growth and has been an excellent help to me and to the village as a whole," Iden said.

The village board is searching internally for Wennerholm's replacement and officials said they will not look outside Bloomingdale unless a suitable candidate isn't found.