Barrington mayor says projects will be worth the effort
Village President Karen Darch said although they have been a long time coming, the Barrington White House and Village Center projects will soon become so vital to the village that it will be hard to remember what Barrington was like without them.
During her annual State of the Village address during Monday's board meeting, she thanked the trustees for sticking with the projects through thick and thin over the past several years.
"It is sometimes difficult for people who have not been on that side of the dais to appreciate the incredible amount of time and effort it takes to do the so-called obvious," Darch said. "But you did - and soon a new piece of our downtown will be complete alongside a White House which you had the foresight to preserve and help to transform into something special for our entire community."
Darch likened the two projects, both of which are scheduled to be open in the coming months, to other buildings, such as Barrington High School, which seem as if they always were in Barrington but were once agonized over by community leaders.
"One hundred fifty years from now, or even 50 years from now, let's hope some future residents are standing in front of the White House thinking, 'Of course this lovely place is here in our great village,'" Darch said. "They will never know what was behind that - but tonight we do, and for that and so much more, and for them, I say thank you."
After Darch's speech, the three candidates running as a slate for the village board - Maureen Yates, JoAnn Fletcher and Mike Kozel - expressed skepticism that the projects will be worth the expense.
"She paints a much better picture than we get talking to residents," Kozel said.
Kozel added that the residents they spoke with aren't excited about the Village Center or White House projects or even know they are happening.
"It's kind of a wait-and-see with me on how they are going to do," Kozel said.
The full text of the State of the Village address is available on the village's website.