Wheaton parks says deal in place to bring grocery store downtown

Wheaton Park District officials say they have an agreement in place that would bring a grocery store to downtown Wheaton at the old Hubble Middle School site. But first, they have to buy the site.

In a move that could ramp up pressure on Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 to sell the 22-acre site to the park district, park officials announced after a special meeting Monday that Mariano's Fresh Market grocery store has agreed to open a store at the corner of Roosevelt and Naperville roads, if the park district acquires the site.

The move came several hours after the school district failed to receive a bid on the property at a live auction.

“We are following through with our vision of what we think the Hubble Middle School site should look like,” said board president Ray Morrill.

The site would include the a 70,500-square-foot grocery store and preserve three gyms the park district uses in the building. Morrill would not say how much the park district was offering the school district. However, he said the park district has $6 million available to cover all costs, including building demolition, site rehabilitation and land acquisition.

But not all park officials are completely on board. Newly elected commissioner Kim VanderSchaaf said she has not been given enough time to make an informed decision on the proposal.

She asked that the board delay its move, but that motion failed due to lack of a second.

“There is only so much money to go around,” she said. “It's a finite amount, and we have to be careful about how we spend it. I need more information from the board before I can support this.”

But Morrill said the information has been available on the district's website and that “time is of the essence.”

“How will we get her up to speed in one week what we have been working on for years?” he said.