Glen Ellyn President Diane McGinley bids farewell to the village

Glen Ellyn Village President Diane McGinley is winding down her final days in office, reflecting on a tenure defined by downtown development.

McGinley will step down at the start of the new year, four months before her term expires, to move to Texas with her family. She announced earlier this year that she wasn't seeking a second term.

At McGinley's last board meeting, trustees unanimously approved plans for a five-story, $30 million apartment building on the site of the long-shuttered McChesney & Miller grocery store at the northwest corner of Crescent Boulevard and Glenwood Avenue.

It's the third major apartment project to move ahead in the downtown core since McGinley was sworn in as village president nearly four years ago. A streetscape redesign that would rebuild roads, reconfigure parking and add to the downtown ambience also is in the pipeline.

"There's over $100 million in private investment going into our downtown. There's $60 million in public investment going into the downtown, and that is amazing," McGinley said. "Our downtown needed a refresher. It needs updated streets and sidewalks and expansion to make it more walkable and accessible for the businesses."

The unanimous approval of the Glenwood Station apartment complex stands in sharp contrast to other developments that proved contentious.

The Apex mixed-use building under construction at Main Street and Hillside Avenue provoked outcry and an opposition group calling itself Save Main. Tensions carried over to some board meetings, fueling a debate on how to balance density and housing growth with the village's historic character.

McGinley said she took the helm of village government with the goal of engaging residents earlier in the development process and widely advertising design plans.

"Looking back, I think we made progress," she said. "I think a lot more progress needs to be made, but we were able to make some changes, and I have seen improvements."

"I think the groundwork is there to keep moving forward," McGinley said.

In place of an architectural review commission that disbanded, the village started an ad hoc, rotating group of three commercial architects to volunteer their feedback on development proposals. Glenwood Station is the first large-scale project that came before the architect group for input. South Bend, Indiana-based Holladay Properties is the developer.

"We've tried to take comments and really listen and incorporate it, and I'm feeling like we've optimized this thing," Holladay Vice President T. Drew Mitchell said.

Infrastructure projects also have dominated her term. The public investment downtown includes $20 million of federal funds currently earmarked for construction of a new Metra station and pedestrian tunnel.

Of that sum, a $14.4 million grant was announced last year for the replacement of the village's 1960s-era depot. Construction is tentatively scheduled for 2024.

"The fact that the amount of grant funding that was able to be secured is tremendous," McGinley said. "And that was due to the hard work of staff and then the overwhelming support that we received from our representatives and legislators."

The race to succeed McGinley features sitting Trustee Mark Senak and former Trustee Pete Ladesic. Senak received the endorsement of the village's Civic Betterment Party, while Ladesic is running outside the system that has produced a slate of candidates for elected office since the 1930s.

McGinley, a former trustee, has served with both village president candidates and been at odds with Senak over development issues. McGinley is endorsing Ladesic, a homebuilder who completed his third term on the board almost two years ago.

Preparing for the move to Texas, McGinley and her family temporarily moved downtown and set out to order takeout from every restaurant in a show of support for businesses trying to survive the pandemic economy and shutdowns. Last week, they were nearing their goal.

McGinley said she'll miss the camaraderie of Main Street Pub, the familiarity of Fire + Wine, the "walkability" of the downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.

"I hope people realize how lucky we are to have these businesses in our community."