Schaumburg officials to discuss naming of new village hall and Al Larson Prairie Center
Editor’s note: Monday’s committee of the whole meeting has been postponed. The story has been updated to reflect the future date.
Schaumburg village board members Monday will discuss and possibly decide the future names of the two buildings on the municipal campus.
While staff are recommending the Al Larson Prairie Center of the Arts be renamed the Al Larson Cultural Center for the building’s 40th anniversary, trustees will have a more open-ended talk on whether the new village hall should again be the Robert O. Atcher Municipal Center in honor of Schaumburg’s influential second mayor.
The village’s cultural services department began studying the possibility of rebranding its headquarters with an online survey last summer. “Prairie Center” was perceived as dated for an arts venue in a developed suburb like Schaumburg.
According to Cultural Services Director Tiana Weiler, there was never any intention to lose the name of fourth mayor and longtime champion Al Larson, which was honorarily added in 2017 in the middle of his eighth and final term.
In fact, merely adding his name to the existing one didn’t seem to give it the prominence that had been meant, officials said. The recommended name is hoped to solve that.
During a monthslong deliberation process, it rose above such other nominations as The Larson APEX Center — Arts, Performance, Experience; Larson Artspace; The ALTA — Al Larson Theatre & Arts; and The Arts Lab — The AL.
Mayor Tom Dailly said he prefers the recommended name to the other suggestions, but knows there are traditionalists in the community who favor no change at all.
“It’s in keeping with what we wanted in renaming the Prairie Center after Al,” he said. “Cultural Center makes more sense. I love the Prairie Center name too, but sometimes you have to make a change. And I think this is the right time.”
As far as Monday’s other discussion, it’s uncertain whether a decision will be reached that night, Dailly said.
Atcher’s family members are lobbying for retention of the name that adorned the now demolished 52-year-old village hall from the time of Atcher’s 1993 death. They don’t believe the ongoing replacement of the former facility has caused their late patriarch’s legacy to expire.
Current officials indicated last year the name of a new building isn’t a foregone conclusion. The new village hall is on target for a November completion.
The Schaumburg Park District’s Atcher Island Water Park is also named in honor of the former mayor. And the Maggie Atcher Theatre within the Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts is named for Atcher’s wife.
The discussions will occur at the next committee of the whole meeting. Visit villageofschaumburg.com for an updated meeting schedule.
Decisions at committee meetings are only recommendations that must be formally approved at a later village board meeting.