One idea: Don't develop Kane Co. jail site
The development of the old Kane County jail site was challenged and a new southern exit for Kane County Cougars baseball fans discussed in a Kane County Board meeting Monday.
A county board subcommittee reviewed plans for the old Settlers Hill landfill on Fabyan Parkway in Geneva and the adjacent site of the soon-to-be-shuttered jail and sheriff's office.
A new member of the subcommittee spoke against what has been in the works for the last 18 months -- selling the jail and sheriff's office site for a residential, commercial, office and hotel development.
"This is really a southern gateway" to Settlers Hill and the eastern half of Fabyan Forest Preserve, said Philip Lewis of St. Charles, who represents the 13th District, including part of Geneva. "I think it should be preserved for public use."
He thinks the 28 or so acres now holding the jail and sheriff's office could be integrated into the recreational uses being planned for Settlers Hill, with perhaps a banquet facility that could be rented out, like facilities at Cantigny in Wheaton or Morton Arboretum in Lisle.
"I'm sure the general public would desire open space as much as possible," he said.
Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns, however, said the proposed redevelopment would allow access to the recreational amenities and would account for only about 5 percent of the more than 700 acres in play.
"I think that is a pretty good trade-off," he told the committee.
Geneva city officials favor putting the jail site back on the tax rolls, and county board Chairman Karen McConnaughay said that would be a way of showing appreciation to Geneva for the many years it's hosted the landfill, jail and sheriff's sites.
The landfill is owned by the Kane County Forest Preserve District. It closed in 2006.
Meanwhile, the county staff is working on a plan to use a former landfill access road to hook up the parking lots from the Kane County Events Center, where Elfstrom Stadium is, to Fabyan Parkway. The center abuts the landfill on the east.
Right now, fans must use Cherry Lane to Kirk Road to get in and out of the stadium lots, although sometimes a second exit is opened from the south parking lot onto Kirk.
The gravel access road could be improved, perhaps with a tar-and-chip coating, to handle passenger vehicles as opposed to garbage trucks. It likely would stay a one-lane road because there are landfill structures, such as methane-gas monitors and wellheads, along the road.
County development director Phil Bus went over a proposed timeline in redeveloping the sheriff/jail site: demolition of the former juvenile detention center in the fall of 2008, demolition of the jail and sheriff's office in late 2009/early 2010, and razing of a 400-foot communications tower in 2010. Meanwhile, the city of Geneva should consider rezoning the land to allow for commercial and office use, Bus said.
The subcommittee, which last met in February 2007, may not meet again until the fall. The new jail at Route 38 and Peck Road is due to open later this summer; the sheriff's office is already packing up for an anticipated July move.