Carol Stream village hall reconstruction on schedule
After a busy summer of demolition and excavation work around the Carol Stream village hall, the foundation walls are starting to frame a major addition on the west side of the Gary Avenue building.
Construction has remained on schedule since the village broke ground in late May on the two-year project that could cost up to $19 million and be funded entirely by cash reserves.
Underground plumping at the site has been installed, tested and inspected. And crews this week started pouring concrete for the foundation walls of the three-level addition with a basement for additional offices and storage space.
Village department heads are now reviewing the project's third package of bids from subcontractors seeking a slew of construction jobs, including masonry work, roofing, storm sewer improvements, asphalt paving and landscaping, among others.
Village officials will make a recommendation to trustees who could vote to approve the bid package as early as Aug. 7.
The goal is to install all of the addition's walls and finish the roof before October or November, so crews can move inside the structure and continue working during the winter.
The village expects to complete the project in December 2018. The addition will increase the building's footprint from 40,400 square feet to 68,750 square feet.
Renovations to the rest of the municipal center will reorient the building's layout. The village's main operating offices will move to the first floor to offer ease of access for residents.
Until the expanded building reopens, village employees and police are working out of Suite No. 400 in the southern end of an office building at 505 E. North Ave., west of Schmale Road. The village is leasing the space under a 22-month agreement.
Despite uprooting village business to a new address, Village Manager Joe Breinig said Wednesday staffers and residents have been "very tolerant" during the transition.
"We're satisfied with how things are going both from the construction perspective and really just from an operations perspective, too," he said.