Carol Stream village hall to soon reopen after $15.3 million reconstruction
Carol Stream village employees and police officers will move back into their newly expanded municipal center next week after working out of temporary headquarters for nearly 18 months.
Employees will return to the Gary Avenue building - closed since May 2017 for a $15.3 million reconstruction - over three days starting Nov. 7. Village hall could reopen to the public at the end of that move-in process next week, but officials say residents should check the village's website and social media accounts for updates about access.
Officials last weekend held an open house to a larger-than-anticipated crowd, with about 1,000 people filing through the building and taking tours until about 3:45 p.m. Saturday - or almost two hours after the event was supposed to end, Village Manager Bob Mellor said.
"People generally felt that the (original) building was old and tired-looking, and it needed to be updated. They liked the look of the (new) building," Mellor said of the reception. "They liked the layout, the fact that all the departments that people would normally need to visit are on the main level."
The reconfigured layout has the main operating offices - the departments with the most public interaction - on the first level. In the lobby, residents can make their water bill payments or purchase vehicle stickers from three new counters accessible to those with special needs.
Police occupy the north end of the building.
The village board room has moved upstairs and now has a new name in honor of Mellor's predecessor, Joe Breinig, who retired earlier this month after 16 years as village manager.
"The board room is a lot more spacious," Mellor said. "It has more audio-video capacities. There's Wi-Fi throughout the building. It's more of a modern municipal building now. Before, it was kind of outdated. It was lacking in a lot of areas."
With a three-level addition, the building is now 69,300 square feet, up from 40,400. The original village hall was built in 1979, lacked modern technology infrastructure and presented security and accessibility issues.
The village funded the expansion and renovations with cash reserves, setting aside up to $19 million for the project, the relocation and the temporary offices. Construction-only costs are expected to total $15,295,000, about $270,000 under budget.
During the project, the police department's traffic, special operations and investigation units worked out of the Glendale Heights municipal complex. The village paid neighboring Glendale Heights a token $1 for the space.
Under a separate, 22-month lease, the village rented offices about two miles away from the municipal center in a former McDade & Co. building off North Avenue to house most staff, some police operations and a vehicle fleet. The deal was set to expire at the end of the year.