Tear down or save? Mundelein to consider possibilities for old village hall

For 85 years, the distinct Alpine-styled brick building at 440 W. Hawley St. in Mundelein has been a local landmark and the seat of village government.

Operations last summer moved to a new village hall nearby. But questions of what should be done with the vacant original have been the subject of considerable study.

Should the building be demolished and the land sold? How much would it cost to renovate and for what purpose?

On Monday, the answers to myriad possibilities are scheduled to be revealed as a special committee dealing with the issue makes its study public.

"They're looking at all the options," said Dawn Jenich, communications and marketing manager for the village. "What's cool about it is they have initiated public comment and really took into consideration what the community had to say."

Various aspects of the report will be presented by members of the Old Village Hall subcommittee during the regular village board meeting at 7 p.m. at the new village hall, 300 Plaza Circle.

"It's one long project with many components," said Trustee Robin Meier, who chaired the group. "It was quite extensive."

Meier said more than 500 respondents answered a nine-question survey to begin the study, but that represented a "small component" of the research that was done.

"We covered the disposition of the village hall. We looked at its land value, building value, how much it would cost to demolish, how much it would cost to rehab," she said.

Respondents were asked whether the building should be demolished, sold or used for something else and if so, what that might be and how that might be funded.

The committee also researched requirements for historic preservation landmark status, potential uses, funding options for those uses and the cost of remodeling and modernizing the building, which was built for $36,000 and dedicated July 2, 1929.

The committee included members with expertise in architecture and commercial contracting, historic preservation and residents of varying tenures in town.

The board meeting Monday will provide the first look at the findings, which will be posted on the village website. The community is invited to give its input April 4 during a coffee with Mayor Steve Lentz, and at village board meetings April 13 and 27. A decision on the recommendations is expected at the April 27 meeting.

Utility tycoon Samuel Insull gave the dedication speech in 1929. Local contractor Leslie C. Ullrich, who also built churches and Washington and Diamond Lake schools, did the work.

The buildings originally housed the offices of mayor and clerk and the police and fire departments, including the 1925 fire truck donated to the village by Cardinal George Mundelein. The upstairs served as a banquet hall and community room. Additions were built in 1972 and 1992.

The new village hall, which opened to the public last June, cost about $10 million.