Carol Stream village hall set to reopen ahead of schedule

Carol Stream's newly expanded village hall will reopen later this fall after a $15.3 million reconstruction.

Nearly a year and a half ago, the village broke ground on the major overhaul of the Gary Avenue building that also houses Carol Stream police. But even before the project began, uprooting village business presented a logistical challenge.

The village had to find a temporary headquarters large enough to accommodate most of its workforce, some police operations and a vehicle fleet. That search led to a 22-month lease to rent offices about two miles away from the municipal center in a former McDade & Co. building off North Avenue.

The deal was set to expire at the end of the year and offered an option to extend it another three months in the event of construction delays. But with the project's running a month ahead of schedule, officials plan to unveil the new-look village hall at an open house Saturday, Oct. 27.

With the three-level addition and a renovation to the rest of the structure, most of the public areas are virtually unrecognizable.

"Now it's become completely different inside and outside," Mayor Frank Saverino said.

One of the most striking differences is the building size: The footprint is now 69,300-square-feet, up from 40,400. The original village hall was built in 1979 with little natural lighting, no modern technology infrastructure and a dark brick exterior.

New windows now break up that facade. Wi-Fi is available throughout the building. Doors are secured with electronic controls. And the village board room has moved to a second-floor space with audiovisual equipment.

"Really, the building has been almost totally reoriented," Village Manager Bob Mellor said. "We have two separate entrances, one for village business and one for police department business."

Police business occupies the north end of the building. The layout has been reconfigured to move the main operating offices - the departments with the most public interaction - to the first level. In the lobby, residents can make their water bill payments or purchase vehicle stickers from three new counters accessible to those with special needs.

"All the main village functions are on the main level, so when you come in, the finance department will be here instead of having to go down in the basement," Mellor said.

In early November, village employees will begin moving into workspaces with new furniture that's currently being delivered and installed. Instead of individual cubicles, there's an open floor plan for some departments.

The police department's traffic, special operations and investigation units also will return to village hall after working out of the Glendale Heights municipal complex during construction. Under that lease, the village paid neighboring Glendale Heights a token $1.

The village fully funded the project with cash reserves, setting aside up to $19 million for the building overhaul, the relocation and the interim space. Construction-only costs are projected to total $15,295,000, about $270,000 under budget.

"Fortunately, we've been able to build up reserves for things like this expansion of an old building," Mellor said. "And one of the things we looked at was do we build a new building or do we renovate the existing building? And it was a lot cheaper to do the renovation, so we're kind of proud that we don't have to go into debt. We don't have to increase taxes."

Mellor oversaw the project as the assistant village manager and began his tenure in Carol Stream's top administrative post Monday. His predecessor, Joe Breinig, retired after 16 years in the position.

Mellor began working for village more than 30 years ago, when Carol Stream was a town of about 18,000 people.

As the population eventually grew to more than 40,000, Carol Stream continued running village business out of a 40,400-square-foot building that architects deemed undersized. It originally was designed for 30 full-time employees, far below the current staff of about 165.

To add more space with the addition, crews demolished roughly three-quarters of the existing structure, excavated the ground below and built the basement, main level and second floor.