At least consider options on village hall

I was one of 14 members of the Old Village Hall Study Committee and it was our job to come up with solutions on the future of Mundelein's first village hall that is now abandoned.

I of course am speaking now on my own behalf and not of the committee. On April 23, this committee made a presentation to the village board, recommending to make the building into a restaurant.

After the presentation, Trustee Ed Sullivan said to the committee that "it just seems impossible to do anything with that building." That statement stood out to me after the meeting. As someone who loves history and respects it, I feel that our committee is giving the old building a chance.

You can't just say that it's impossible to do something with the building without at least looking at all options in order to save it. Once you tear down that 87-year-old building, it's gone forever.

We as a committee did look at all aspects of what to do with the old village hall. We looked at remodeling it, selling it or demolishing the building and the best solution for the village we found over the months of examining the facts was to remodel it. It may be decided in the end to demolish it and so be it, but you have to at least give the building a chance before hastily deciding it's impossible to deal with.

The board votes on what to do with the building on April 27. I truly hope the board looks at all the facts, data and information we as a committee supplied to them. As I to the board, "With the old village hall being around as long as this village has been called Mundelein, it has become a historic symbol of the village."

Shawn Killackey

Mundelein