Palatine council holds first meeting at renovated village hall

The Palatine village council conducted their first public meeting in their new council chambers at the renovated Palatine Village Hall Monday night and, despite some tech issues, the space lived up to the hype.

For nearly two years, the village council has been having public meetings in a training room at the Palatine Police Station on Hicks Road while crews finished the $12.7 million renovation to the 64-year-old village hall building on Wood Street. While they were away, crews gutted the old chambers and built it back so it is nearly unrecognizable. While the council chambers is in about the same spot on the second floor of the building, the orientation of the room has been flipped so the council is now seated on the north side of the room. This simple change means windows on the south wall will fill the room with natural light.

Palatine Mayor Jim Schwantz thanked the village's residents, businesses and neighbors for all their support during the last two years.

"This was a long project; there was a lot of construction, a lot of debris, a lot of disruptions," Schwantz said. "Everybody's patience is very much appreciated."

Schwantz also thanked Village Manager Reid Ottesen and his staff members for getting the project done without having to raise taxes to fund it.

While the building has been without major incident since opening for business June 27, there were still a few kinks to work out Monday with the council chamber room's audio/video system. The projector and microphones occasionally sputtered on and off during the nearly two-hour meeting.

"The first couple weeks in the new building have run smoother than the A/V tonight," Village Manager Reid Ottesen said after the meeting. Ottesen was confident the issues would be resolved before the next meeting in August.

Schwantz said the village likely will host an open house for the new building in the fall; the date will be announced later this summer.

"We can open up this building, open up your building for you to come and take a look and see what it is all about," Schwantz said.