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Express DMV in Wheaton shuts down, to the dismay of area drivers

For anxious drivers, the dreaded trek to the DMV ranks right up there with a trip to the principal's office.

But Pat Serritella speaks so highly of the Wheaton driver's license office that you'd think she was reviewing a four-star restaurant.

The employees there? "Very friendly staff, always open and always willing to help you," she said.

Which is why Serritella and other longtime patrons reacted with dismay when they learned Thursday was the last day for the express driver services facility after more than 20 years in downtown Wheaton.

Serritella didn't know of the abrupt closure until an employee told her. Her response? "You're kidding me?"

"I don't go anywhere else," the Glen Ellyn woman said.

There were no signs on the storefront window or door warning drivers of the final day of business. The Illinois secretary of state's office has operated a facility there since at least 1996, the furthest its records go back.

Secretary of state spokesman Dave Druker reiterated Thursday that driver services closed in the Liberty Drive building due to a decision by the landlord not to renew the lease.

"It's my understanding the landlord wants to move in a different direction," Druker said.

He also dismissed speculation that the closure had to do with late rent payments, as was the case during the state's two-year budget impasse.

In 2016, the Wheaton branch was set to close after the state failed to pay rent on the building for more than six months. But the landlord at the time granted a last-minute reprieve after an outcry from drivers.

Druker said rent payments are a "couple months behind," but the secretary of state's office has passed vouchers along to the Illinois comptroller's office, which writes the checks.

"They will get paid, hopefully in a prompt manner," he said.

The secretary of state plans to relocate driver services to a new site "within a few miles" of the Wheaton location, but Druker could not provide a specific location or time frame.

A new owner purchased the building more than a year ago and made a major exterior renovation, Downtown Wheaton Association Executive Director Paula Barrington said. The second-floor office space also was remodeled.

WoofBeach, a dog grooming and training business, is the newest tenant under the new ownership, filling a longtime vacant corner space and "doing exceptionally well," Barrington said.

"Based on the success of neighboring Woof Beach and the ideal location of this retail space facing Liberty Drive, generous on-street parking and high visibility from Front Street to the north, the DWA is confident that the current property owner will be able to attract a viable retailer to occupy this space," Barrington said in an email.

State Rep. Amy Grant, a Wheaton Republican, took issue with the lack of notice surrounding the closure, made public Monday in a Daily Herald story.

"There was no heads-up. Nothing," she said.

Grant plans to request a meeting with secretary of state officials with the hope a smaller location will be reinstated somewhere in her district. The downtown site handled about 5,200 people a month.

"It's not sitting well with my constituents," Grant said.

Tony Abiera also lamented the closing after updating his address Thursday. He arrived at 9:05 a.m. and left 10 minutes later, complimenting the staff as "quick, nice, efficient."

"It's a great location and I've always had a good experience here," the Lombard man said.

The 12 employees who work at the facility will be reassigned to other locations. Drivers are encouraged to visit the nearest facilities to Wheaton at 837 S. Westmore Ave., Lombard, or at 931 W. 75th St., Suite 161, Naperville. For a complete list of locations, visit cyberdriveillinois.com.

  Pat Serritella of Glen Ellyn expresses frustration with the closing of the express driver services facility in downtown Wheaton. "Very friendly staff, always open and always willing to help you," she says. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
  Thursday was the last day of business for the express driver services facility along Liberty Drive in downtown Wheaton. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
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