How things are going in Schaumburg
New opportunities for having fun and doing business are on tap for Schaumburg in 2008.
This will be the year the village joins in on the Tour of Elk Grove international bike race and continues to see restaurant openings sparked by the new convention center, Mayor Al Larson said Tuesday.
As is tradition, Larson gave his "state of the village" address during the Schaumburg Business Association's first gathering of the year.
But just to show he wasn't there to paint an overly rosy picture of life in Schaumburg, Larson played a voice mail message from an angry resident frustrated by the speed of snowplowing on county-maintained local roads.
The man said he wouldn't leave his name for fear of retaliation against his business. He insisted the village has enough money to plow even the roads it doesn't maintain.
"It's always nice to share those warm messages," Larson said, joking that he'd ask neighboring Hoffman Estates to do the plowing.
On a more serious note, Larson highlighted new businesses set to appear in 2008, such as a Legoland education center at Streets of Woodfield and restaurants along Meacham Road that want to be by the convention center.
He pointed to Davis Street Fishmarket and Pete Miller's eateries, which have already taken over the former Prairie Rock Brewing Co. space.
"You talk about Restaurant Row in Wheeling," he said. "Meacham Road is becoming Restaurant Row in Schaumburg."
As for the convention center itself, which opened in 2006, Larson said 2007 revenue is approaching what was first projected for 2009. And 2008's updated projections are close to the original estimates for 2013.
Elsewhere in town, one of the big new events of 2008 will be on Aug. 2, when the village provides some of its roads for the professional bike racers' leg of The Alexian Brothers Tour of Elk Grove.
While the entire event will run Aug. 1 to 3 in Elk Grove Village, the tour will head through selected streets in Schaumburg just during the pros' 90-mile race on Aug. 2.
Elk Grove Village President Craig Johnson said it made sense to invite Schaumburg to participate, knowing Larson is a cycling enthusiast.
"We're still the largest purse in the world for a three-day, three-stage race," Johnson said. This year's purse will be $170,000 for the pros.
Larson said 2008 looks to be the year Children's Home and Aid Society of Illinois' low-income day care center at Schaumburg and Plum Grove roads is completed. It's been delayed for five years by funding issues.
He added developers still insist that the long-vacant John M. Smyth store on Woodfield Road will soon be replaced by a Whole Foods and Crate & Barrel.
Larson also pointed out in the audience Sandra Westlund-Deenihan, owner of locally based Quality Float Works Inc., who on Monday was the only woman to attend a Chicago business lunch with President Bush.
Quality Float Works sells parts for water purification systems in China and other developing countries. It's a reminder, Larson said, that Schaumburg is important as a manufacturing base as well as for its retail stores.