Elk Grove Park District will keep township day care center open
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Elk Grove Park District is paying $2 million for six acres at 711 Chelmsford Lane owned by Elk Grove Township. Under the agreement, a day care center on the site will remain open for two more years. Chacour Koop | Staff Photographer
The Elk Grove Park District will pay $2 million for six acres owned by the Elk Grove Township, potentially clearing way for more park space and keeping open a day care center that serves low-income families.
In an intergovernmental land swap, the township is expected trade its property at 711 Chelmsford Lane for village property at 600 Landmeier Road used by the public works department. That property will become the township's new headquarters.
The village will then sell the Chelmsford Lane site to the park district. As part of that deal, the park district has agreed to keep open a nonprofit day care center that operates at the property for at least two more years, Mayor Craig Johnson said.
The sale is expected to be complete within a couple of months, Johnson added.
The future of the nonprofit Elk Grove Township Agency Daycare Center -- which offers services to low-income families through grant funding -- had been a concern as the township has been selling its properties. Some residents feared selling the property would limit options for day care.
The township is developing a voucher program to reimburse families in need for costs at any day care, not just the Elk Grove Township Agency Daycare Center.
The park district, which has been leasing about four acres at the site for soccer fields and playgrounds, could eventually turn the entire area into a park. Executive Direct Tom Busby has said the park district would like raze the building for more park space. However, those plans will be on hold now for at least two years.
Previously, a group of Bulgarian-American educators from the Little Bulgarian School, which uses facilities in Northwest Suburban High School District 214, and other partners submitted a letter of intent to buy the property.
However, that deal fell through as the group and day care operator ran into problems complying with state laws allowing them to both operate in the building, Johnson said. The village is working with the Bulgarian-American educators to find another location, he added.
The township has been consolidating by selling some of its properties. It sold its headquarters at 2400 S. Arlington Heights Road in Arlington Heights and the youth services building at 401 W. Golf Road in Mount Prospect for a combined $1.1 million.
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