Mount Prospect plans to build a new south side community center

Mount Prospect is moving ahead with plans to spend about $9 million to buy and refurbish a building on the south end of town as home to a new community center.

The new facility will replace the village Community Connections Center and be called the Village Resource Center.

Public Works Director Sean Dorsey said the project is targeted for completion by the end of next year.

“I would just say this is a project whose time has come, and we’ve been talking about this for years,” Mayor Paul Hoefert said at Tuesday’s village board meeting.

The Community Connections Center at 1711 W. Algonquin Road serves as a satellite location for the village’s Human Services Department and the Mount Prospect Public Library. It was created to bring those services to residents on the south end who may face transportation and language barriers.

But a 2025 assessment found an urgent need to expand services, and the 3,600-square-foot center had no room to grow.

The village spent about $2.1 million earlier this year to buy a 21,000-square-foot building at 1601 E. Algonquin Road previously occupied by a security firm.

Plans call for space for human services, the library, a food pantry and a police satellite location.

Dorsey said construction costs are still undetermined, although they are budgeted at $7 million. That estimate is based on the average cost per foot for heavy renovation work in the Chicago area.

The village board Tuesday hired Studio 222 Architects of Chicago at a cost not to exceed $257,150, using tax increment financing district funds to pay for the work.

The firm will provide design services and limited construction administration. It already come up with a concept plan and renderings — based on comments received from project stakeholders — that were presented to the village board Tuesday.

The village’s public works department will serve as the project manager.

“We just want to make sure that we’re not building a project that we can’t afford,” Dorsey said.

The library space alone will be about the size of the current Community Connections Center, Dorsey said. Police, he added, can use the substation to write reports and conduct interviews.

Planned renovations include creating a new facade, gutting the interior, installing a new roof and replacing the mechanical, electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems. Before going out to bid, public works staff will complete demolition and perform site engineering.

Village Trustee Vince Dante said the project is important to him. He noted the number of counseling rooms in the plan and said it would meet the needs of a growing population in south Mount Prospect.

“I see this being one of the crown jewels on the south side,” he said.

szalusky@dailyherald.com