Mundelein village hall may move, after all

Mundelein's dormant plans to relocate village hall have sprung back to life.

The village board on Monday night agreed to partner with Weston Solutions, a Pennsylvania company that wants to relocate an office to Mundelein from Vernon Hills. Under the deal, Weston and the village will pursue a joint venture that could see the company and village headquarters share a new facility.

It's the latest attempt by village officials to relocate village hall, which now operates on Hawley Street in a building built in the 1920s that's been criticized as being too small and not properly accessible for people with disabilities.

The agreement calls for Weston, an environmental restoration and construction firm founded in 1957, to search for potential properties, perform building and site inspections and prepare redevelopment options, all at no charge to the village.

The firm is eyeing land near the village's Metra train station, which is south of Hawley Street near Archer Avenue and Division Street. The Sigma Services Corp. site at 225 Hawley St. is a possibility, Trustee Ed Sullivan said.

Although the process is at a preliminary stage, Weston Vice President Scott Springer is enthusiastic about working with the village.

"We are very attuned to the benefits of public-private partnerships," Springer said.

The firm, which has more than 70 workers at its Vernon Hills office, also is attuned to the environmental benefits of its workers using public transportation. That's why Mundelein's Metra station caught its eye.

Not only would the station make commuting easy for workers, it would allow employees to take the train to its other facilities in Lake Villa and Chicago, Springer said.

Most village halls are large, free-standing buildings, but a shared space that has room for other tenants would be a better fit for the downtown area village leaders are trying to design near the train station, Trustee Terri Voss said.

Plans for the area call for condominiums, retail spaces and other pedestrian-friendly attractions to take advantage of the nearby public-transit system.

"We're doing this with an eye to the future," Voss said.

The company hopes to close on a property deal in Mundelein by Sept. 30, village documents indicate. If it doesn't, the agreement with the village will expire.

Mundelein officials have been talking for years about moving village hall, but it's never happened.

Four years ago, town leaders spent more than $5 million to buy a vacant building at 165 N. Archer Ave., just south of Hawley Street, with intents to relocate there. That plan was nixed in 2007, however.

The village still owns the Archer Avenue building, and it remains unused.

Voss said village officials don't want to borrow money or raise taxes to pay for construction of a new village hall. With a deal like the one they're pursuing with Weston, she said, "maybe we can do something creative."