Hoffman Estates update: Spring Awakening won't be back; coronavirus has no negative impact on hospital

Hours after Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod said a second Spring Awakening Music Festival in the village was unlikely, festival organizers confirmed it Thursday with a post on their Facebook page.

The three-day fest, which brought about 30,000 electronic dance music fans to the Sears Centre Arena last June, will instead return to its former home at Chicago's Union Park.

The festival's future and various economic development projects around the village were among the highlights Thursday in McLeod's annual community update.

"It's been an interesting year in Hoffman Estates," McLeod told members of the Hoffman Estates Chamber of Commerce & Industry during the breakfast gathering at the Sears Centre. "I say that every year, but every year is interesting in Hoffman Estates."

McLeod updated progress on the The Bell Works redevelopment of the former AT&T campus, which is expected to produce a 1.6-million-square-foot self-contained community over the next four to six years. Current construction is concentrating on offices, retail space and the first of two piazzas - or public squares - where people can gather for events, McLeod said.

Despite its problem-free event last June, McLeod said he didn't expect Spring Awakening back in 2020, in part because the Sears Centre is booked for another event during the fest's traditional weekend in June.

McLeod also addressed the village's time in the national spotlight this year as Amita St. Alexius Medical Center successfully treated the only two coronavirus patients to date in the eastern half of the U.S. He said there is no evidence of a negative impact on the hospital.

"We haven't seen that," McLeod said. "They did a great job handling it."

On the commercial development front, Bystronic Inc. is about to open its new 163,000-square-foot North American headquarters on West Central Road, just west of Bell Works. And work is expected to begin soon on the 53-acre Hoffman Technology Park immediately north of it.

Sears Centre General Manager Ben Gibbs reported an unanticipated level of success with the new village-owned beer garden in the Village Green just west of the arena. About 40,000 visitors were expected last year, but with little more than word-of-mouth advertising, more than 100,000 people dropped by between May and October.

With further improvements and some marketing, attendance could double this year, Gibbs said.

Expanding transportation options is another issue the village has been working on, McLeod said. With the Pace terminal on I-90 at Barrington Road now fully established, bus ridership grew 25% in the past year, he reported.

In 2020, the village, park district and forest preserve district - with a significant amount of federal funding - will fill gap in the bike path along Shoe Factory Road and continue planning a bike path along Beverly Road that would allow cyclists to cross over the tollway.

The village is closely monitoring the bankruptcy proceedings for Sears Holdings, whose office campus in Hoffman Estates remains owned by Chairman Eddie Lampert's new Transformco and occupied by its employees, McLeod said. Minimizing the impact on the rest of the village is a priority of municipal leaders, he added.

Gibbs said there are no plans to change the name of the Sears Centre, where the transforming company has had a greater presence of late - including the new Shop Your Way Lounge.

"I have to be honest, we've had them since '06 and they've been a top-notch partner," Gibbs said.