Old Hainesville village hall torn down

Hainesville Mayor Linda Soto said she didn't shed a single tear when a bulldozer and other demolition equipment began dismantling the old village hall Thursday.

Instead, Soto said, she expected former village Trustee Gary Walkington to start celebrating when the first brick of the 70-year-old building came down.

"Gary is a lifelong resident and he wanted this more than anyone else, so I really expected him to do a few cartwheels," she said. "Honestly, aside from being the best tornado bunker in town, it was of little use for anything else. It has no historical value at all."

After demolition of the building is completed next week, the parcel at routes 120 and 134 will be put up for sale for commercial use, Soto said. It's unclear right now how much money the village could expect to collect from the sale of the land.

"It was very cost prohibitive to renovate the building," she said. "So, the bottom line was it is best to take it down, get rid of it, then turn the land into prime commercial property for future development."

Historians said the redbrick rectangle-shaped structure was originally built as a two-room school for the now-defunct Hainesville School District 43 in 1940. It replaced a wood frame structure that was moved to Round Lake and ultimately became a VFW hall before being burned to the ground in a fire department training exercise, officials said.

The brick building was used after District 43 consolidated with Round Lake schools in 1945, though it is unclear when the school was closed by District 116 and Hainesville officially took it over for use as the village hall.

Soto said the building had asbestos in the floor and ceiling, and the main room sported 1970s-style paneling and cork tile on the walls.

"The worst was the building had only one window in it, and it was in the back of the building," she said. "I wasn't kidding when I said it is a bunker."

A management company was brought in this week to professionally and correctly remove any asbestos from the site before demolition, she added.

"The building really is in horrific condition and is nothing more than an eyesore," Soto said. "The basement floods, there's asbestos, and the building has no character or original design at all."