84 Lumber buildings on the way out of there

Demolition began Tuesday on a Round Lake Beach lumber yard that's been a blight on the village landscape for more than a decade.

Village Administrator Dave Kilbane said workers began Tuesday morning taking down the long-vacant building on the 84 Lumber property at the southwest corner of Hook Drive and Route 83.

"They're tearing it down right now," he said.

Kilbane estimated it might take two or three days to finish the demolition.

The site sat vacant for at least 10 years, but a building and canopies for storing lumber remained.

The village announced in July that Oakridge Properties of Algonquin would build on the site a 8,000-square-foot Firestone Automotive service center and a 14,000-square-foot strip mall, which will include a Starbucks with a drive-through, as well as a Jimmy John's sub shop and a Little Caesar's pizzeria.

Kilbane said the village is eager to move to the next phase in the project.

"That site's been kind of an eyesore in the village for over a decade," he said. "It's pretty exciting."