Asbestos cleanup begins before old Elk Grove church is torn down

Elk Grove Village plans to tear down an old church it recently purchased, with an eye toward the development of eight single-family homes on the property.

But first, a contractor will enter the shuttered Elk Grove Presbyterian Church to clean up asbestos, waste and other hazardous building components.

Elk Grove Village is paying Franklin Park-based Husar Abatement $60,957 for the environmental remediation at 600 E. Elk Grove Blvd., as well as at a two-story office building at 570 E. Higgins Road. The village purchased the former for $965,000 and the latter for $850,000 to prep the sites for redevelopment. Closings were held in November.

Faced with dwindling attendance and revenues, the Presbyterian church held its final services last June. Acting as a kind of master developer, the municipality bought the 2.5-acre site in hopes of eventually putting new residential housing there. The property is bordered by single-family homes on three sides.

Preliminary plans call for eight new homes, Mayor Craig Johnson recently announced.

“(We’re) starting to look at the layouts of it. (It’s) something that’s needed for the village,” Johnson said. “We feel the housing should fit the neighborhood in the village here.”

The church’s series of interconnected brick buildings — modern at the time of the church's founding six decades ago — stands at the unofficial Tonne Road dividing line between Elk Grove's western residential side and sprawling east side industrial park.

Meanwhile, Johnson hinted at plans for an affordable senior housing development in the village. The village board reviewed the project in closed session in January, but details aren’t expected to be revealed publicly until February.