Lombard library officials agree to buy former Mr. Z's Supermarket site

Lombard library officials have agreed to acquire a shuttered supermarket to move forward with a long-stalled plan for a new building.

Helen M. Plum Memorial Library board members on Monday night voted to ratify and approve contracts for the purchase of the former Mr. Z's Supermarket site at 401 S. Main St., a small professional building next door at 425 S. Main St. and an adjacent easement.

"As the village of Lombard begins healing from the COVID-19 crisis, a new library in the heart of our Main Street corridor will serve as a beacon of hope and a place to support the well-being of community members," library board President Jason Brandt said a written statement. "It has taken longer than anticipated, but we hope we can all embrace the path forward, as we watch together a new library rise on Lombard's Main Street."

Plum officials have spent more than 3½ years trying to fulfill a promise to construct a roughly 50,000-square-foot facility to replace the existing library at 110 W. Maple St.

Voters in November 2016 approved a property tax increase for the library, but the project has faced repeated delays.

The initial plan was to build on the library's existing location, but officials struggled to create a proposal that could pass muster with the Lombard Park District, which owns neighboring Lilacia Park.

In November, library officials revealed they were reviewing other locations, including the former Mr. Z's site. The supermarket building has stood vacant since the business abruptly closed in 2013.

Brandt said the library has agreed to pay $2.295 million for the Mr. Z's property, $340,000 for the property at 425 S. Main, and $20,000 for the easement parcel.

The deal is contingent upon the library getting zoning approvals from the village.

Brandt, meanwhile, acknowledged that library officials have been "frustrated and dismayed at the extensive delay to begin construction."

The library board pursued talks with the park district for more than three years, Brandt said, "because the board members and many Lombard residents firmly believed that building a new library at its current location, adjacent Lilacia Park, benefitted the community, the park, the library and Lombard's downtown."

Last fall, the library board made a final attempt to reach an agreement with the park district by reconsidering an offer the park district made in November 2017. But the negotiations failed.

So in late fall, a library representative reached out to the owners of the former Mr. Z's site with a series of offers below the public asking price of $2.295 million.

"Each of those offers were rejected and the owners provided their appraisal and their justification of the nonnegotiable asking price," Brandt said.

Despite the cost of the property, the library won't need to spend an estimated $1.5 million to modify, move into and lease an interim location. Instead, the existing library building will remain in use until construction of the Main Street location is completed.

The Main Street location also has some advantages, including access to adjacent parking.

"Ultimately," Brandt said, "the Main Street library building will be able to serve our community better than the Maple Street building plans we attempted to come to an agreement on with the park district."

He said the board is yet to decide what will happen to the existing library building when the new one opens.