W. Dundee plans to demolish Ace Hardware building, create parking
There will soon be paved parking space where the old Ace Hardware building sits at 118 S. First St. in West Dundee.
The village purchased the building in the spring and has decided to demolish it to make space for free municipal parking. The board voted Monday to get the project moving and approved a contract with a Woodridge engineering firm, V3 Companies, for $19,900.
The firm will be responsible for creating bids for demolition as well as designs for turning the property into a parking lot. It will also research the possibility of retaining any foundation walls or floor slabs of the building. It will do the same for a pumping station on the other side of First Street.
The village is still unsure whether a parking structure will be built.
“Reconstruction plans will identify which is the best way to go to facilitate maximum parking on the site but minimize the cost,” said Joe Cavallaro, West Dundee village manager.
Parking will likely be an interim use for the property, Cavallaro said.
“The long-term game plan is to utilize the property for some downtown redevelopment efforts when the market returns,” Cavallaro said.
By hiring an engineer now, the village will be able to coordinate demolition with the future construction and find out the total cost of the entire project before the building is torn down.
After the village purchased the building in the spring, it offered the space to nonprofits. Village President Larry Keller said there was initial interest but it faded after the businesses realized the costs of revamping the hardware store into office space.
That's when the board decided to move forward with the parking idea, Keller said. Parking will be free, as all municipal parking is in West Dundee.
“We want people to feel welcome in the downtown area,” Keller said. “We don't have a huge amount of parking so to hire somebody to police the area would probably be counterproductive.”
If all goes according to plan, the buildings should be demolished in February or March with parking available next spring, according to Cavallaro.