Mt. Prospect moves closer to Central Plaza demolition
Long considered an eyesore in downtown Mount Prospect, the mostly vacant Central Plaza Shopping Center is one step closer to demolition.
The village board voted Tuesday to approve a contract for an environmental assessment of the property at 2-40 N. Main St., at the intersection with Central Road. Tetra Tech will conduct the work at a cost not to exceed $24,774.
The work will be the prelude to the demolition, which will address property maintenance and safety issues.
Calling it "one of the bigger puzzles in my career," Community Development Director Bill Cooney said that through transfers between banks and the failure of one bank, the 26,000-square-foot property is in limbo, with nobody claiming ownership of it.
Cooney said that after dealing with the legal issues, the village has received permission from the court to demolish the strip center, and could then put a lien on the property and foreclose on it to gain ownership if nobody steps forward to claim it.
Cooney told the board Tetra Tech is doing a Phase II environmental assessment to ensure that the village is aware of possible environmental issues on the site.
"Clearly, we need to know what the environmental issues are there before taking action," Trustee Paul Hoefert said. "So this is an important probably fifth step through the process, because a lot of people don't understand there is a lot of work going on … the last couple of years."
Hoefert said he has been approached by people asking why the village doesn't just demolish the property. "You can't just tear down a property you don't own. But we're taking the steps - the appropriate steps - in order to potentially gain ownership and then deal with this property appropriately."
Cooney said the testing would involve making 30 different borings between 12 and 18 feet deep to find out what is underground.
Trustee A. John Korn asked if the village had the option of taking the building down without disturbing the foundation.
Cooney said he understood that if the test results reveal contaminated soils that would be too expensive to deal with, theoretically, the village could "knock it down, leave the foundation in place, fill the basement with gravel and then probably pave over it, so you have a solid surface."
Cooney said one doesn't want water getting into a basement or through a broken foundation if the ground is contaminated. "Water helps with spreading contaminants. We don't want that," he said.
When asked about underground storage tanks, which can be a source of contamination, Cooney said there are seven heating oil tanks on the property.