Round Lake industrial park to get live auctions

A Round Lake company has won approval to host live auctions in the village's industrial park to sell bulk municipal goods.

Obenauf Auction Services will run the events on Saturday mornings in a lot next to their offices in the industrial park at Sunset Drive and Hart Road.

It's a move Mayor Dan MacGillis hopes will benefit the industrial park, which he said was hit hard by the economic downturn and is in desperate need of new business.

“The industrial park needs a shot in the arm,” MacGillis said.

Bill Obenauf, president of Obenauf Auction Services, said he hopes to attract some new customers to the area with the open-air auctions. By operating close to his main office, it's also a way to hold down costs, he added.

The Round Lake village board last week approved Obenauf's request to run the live auctions in the industrial park. Those auctions will begin within the next few months, officials said.

“We fit into what they (the village) are trying to do,” Obenauf said. “They're trying to expand the business in Round Lake, and one of the things that will add to that is the number of people who will come to our auctions.”

Customers can expect to see the usual police consignment and bulk municipal goods that the auction service offers: an eclectic mix of goods including large vehicles, industrial equipment and electronics.

Obenauf starting his auctioneering business in 1984 in his neighbor's garage in Ingleside.

Obenauf Auction Services moved into a new, larger building in Round Lake's industrial park earlier this year.

The auction service hosts 15 to 20 live auctions a year at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake, but Obenauf says he now hopes to move the majority of the auctions to the new Round Lake location.