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Carol Stream village hall addition on time, budget

Construction crews are making significant strides in expanding Carol Stream's village hall as the focus turns to installing a new roof on the Gary Avenue building by the end of the year.

With the exception of about half a dozen weather-related delays, the work has remained on schedule since a groundbreaking in late May on the two-year project that could cost up to $19 million in cash reserves.

As part of a major overhaul of the village headquarters, crews demolished roughly three-quarters of the 40,400-square-foot building that also houses the police department.

A three-level addition is taking shape on the west side of the building. When complete, it will provide much-needed space for a municipal workforce that has multiplied in the nearly four decades since the building opened, officials say.

Concrete floors have been poured in the basement and on upper floors of the addition that will increase the building's total footprint to 68,750 square feet. Contractors also have installed exterior walls on the first floor and the north side of the second floor.

They plan to work on the remainder of the second-floor walls in the next two weeks, Assistant Village Manager Bob Mellor said.

Next week, crews will begin installing the roof on the addition. The village also has decided to replace the nearly 12-year-old roof on the rest of the building. The roofing is scheduled to wrap up by the end of December so crews can work inside over the rest of the winter, Mellor said.

Inside the existing portions of village hall, crews are doing electrical and plumbing work in addition to installing ductwork that will be tied into a new heating and air conditioning system.

That system, coupled with new LED lighting throughout the building, should translate into long-term savings on utility costs. With sustainability in mind, those lights and bathroom fixtures will be outfitted with motion sensors to turn off water and electricity when not in use.

Other interior renovations will reorient the building's layout. The village's main operating offices will move to the first floor to offer ease of access for residents.

"We tried to make it as convenient as possible for visitors to figure out where to go," Mellor said.

Meeting rooms will be enhanced with more video and audio capabilities - one example of an improvement that will bring village hall "into the 21st century," Mellor said.

"When the original building was built in 1979, we didn't have computers," he said. "There wasn't all the technology we have now."

Until the expanded building reopens in late 2018, the village is operating out of Suite No. 400 in the southern end of a leased facility at 505 E. North Ave., west of Schmale Road. The village board and plan commission are holding meetings at Carol Stream Fire District's Station No. 28 at 365 N. Kuhn Road.

Carol Stream OKs lease for temporary village hall

Building demolition in full swing at Carol Stream village hall

  The reconstruction of Carol Stream's village hall remains on schedule and on budget. Trustees have agreed to spend no more than $19 million on the project as well as relocation and consultant costs. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
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