Attractive price tag for demolition work
It’s not exactly the type of news that would make Elvis sing, but for $467,000 the old Kane County jail will soon be turned to rock. Once the structure is gone, a debate will begin anew about what the best use is for the 700-acre site on Fabyan Parkway.
A county board committee approved the demolition and its price tag Thursday. The county board must vote before the empty structure can be razed.
The county already has enough money to proceed. It would use cash in a special account that contains about $10 million, but can only be legally spent on an end use for the site. The funds are restricted because the campus contains two former landfills and the legal liabilities involved with them.
But even with the money in hand, not every county board member may be in a hurry to spend it. Board member Hollie Lindgren said she’s a fan of the $467,000 price because it’s about half of what officials thought the demolition might cost. But she’s not a fan of spending what is still a lot of money during a down economy, she said.
“I’d like to know how necessary it is to do this at this time,” Lindgren asked county staff members. “And I’d also like to know how many local jobs this project might create.”
Elgin-based American Demolition Corporation won the bid. County staff said that may translate into some temporary local jobs, but no hard numbers were available. The pitch for spending the money now is the belief that getting rid of the old jail is the only way to make the site attractive for development.
“I think we need to do this to get ready to get it on the market whenever the market turns around,” county board member Tom Van Cleave said. “And from a safety standpoint, God forbid we wait until something happens out there until we do something.”
In an odd twist, once the jail is gone, county board members may switch hats and become the buyers for the site. Board members also serve as Kane County Forest Preserve District commissioners. The forest preserve is a separate taxing body from the county, but it controls the Settlers Hill golf course adjacent to the old jail and the existing former landfills. One of the proposed future uses for the old jail site is to create a public/private partnership and usher in a Ravinia-style venue. The forest preserve district would be the public side of that partnership, meaning it would have to buy the jail site from the county. In other words, county board members would sell the land to forest preserve commissioners, who happen to be the exact same people.
Board member Deb Allan said, from a forest preserve standpoint, she’d also want the jail demolished.
Or, none of that may happen, and the county board could sell the land to a private developer. If the full county board approves the price for the demolition, the jail would come down later this year.