Schaumburg Athletic Association to move
The Schaumburg Athletic Association has agreed to pay all the renovation and upkeep costs of a village-owned carriage house to save the 85-year-old structure from demolition and make it its new headquarters.
Schaumburg officials Tuesday recommended allowing the local youth sports organization to take over the carriage house once the Family Counseling Center moves to another village-owned building — the historic Turret House at 17 E. Schaumburg Road — in early February.
In 2007, structural problems costing an estimated $150,000 to $200,000 to fix were identified in the carriage house, located just north of the Schaumburg Barn on Civic Drive.
After the village acquired the Turret House in a landswap with Lou Malnati's Pizzeria and decided to move the Family Counseling Center there, the plan was simply to demolish the carriage house, Schaumburg Village Manager Ken Fritz said.
But athletic association President Denise Anderson approached the village to ask about the possibility of her organization renovating the building to acquire larger quarters than its current leased facility at 611-B Lunt Ave. in Schaumburg.
The village will lease the carriage house to the athletic association for $1 a year but will put none of its own money into the building and will continue only to mow the lawn, Fritz said.
Anderson said the volunteer work of construction professionals is hoped to make the old carriage house habitable for the long-term future. The athletic association expects to have to use the facility for at least five to seven years to break even on its investment.
The first floor of the carriage house would be reconfigured into office space for the organization's two part-time employees, while the second floor would be used for additional storage.
Board meetings would also be held at the renovated carriage house, but no children are expected to use the facility.
The athletic association is a nonprofit organization created in 1960 to provide organized sports opportunities for children and teens in the community.
The agency currently serves nearly 6,000 participants between the ages of 5 and 19, and more than 5,000 families.