GiGi's Playhouse, Poplar Creek Bowl expanding in Hoffman Estates

GiGi's Playhouse National Achievement Center and Poplar Creek Bowl - adjacent businesses in Hoffman Estates' Barrington Square Town Center on Higgins Road - have received village approval to expand their operations.

GiGi's Playhouse, which provides services and support for families raising children with Down syndrome, will take over the vacant space to its east to accommodate a larger gym.

Poplar Creek Bowl will repurpose some of its interior space to create an 84-seat Poplar Creek Banquets facility that will have its own sign and entrance west of those for the bowling alley.

GiGi's Playhouse was founded 14 years ago by South Barrington resident Nancy Gianni and named after her young daughter. The nonprofit organization has since expanded across the country.

The agency's headquarters at 2350 W. Higgins Road is 10,539 square feet and includes a Hugs & Mugs retail store and GiGi University for adults with Down syndrome.

The expansion plan would create a larger gym in the existing space by moving offices to the empty space at 2348 W. Higgins Road. Representatives of GiGi's Playhouse said physical activity is especially important to the fitness of children with Down syndrome.

Poplar Creek Bowl, which just marked its 26th anniversary, recently remodeled its bar and restaurant and now wants to turn the informal party room at the southwest end of the building into a more upscale banquet space.

An outdoor seating area that would operate from April 1 to Nov. 30 each year also was approved, with Village Trustee Karen Mills voting against that request.

Though representatives of the business said they wanted to use the outdoor seating for both the banquet facility and the existing bar, it was later discovered the written request trustees voted on was only for its use by banquet patrons.

The renovation is expected to take 12 weeks to complete.