Schaumburg set to approve $814,000 renovation of outdoor plaza named after first village attorney
Schaumburg trustees Tuesday are expected to authorize an approximately $814,000 renovation of the Jack Siegel Memorial Plaza that honors the village's long-serving first attorney on the municipal campus.
The 27,000-square-foot plaza lies between the Robert O. Atcher Municipal Center and Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts, facilities named after the village's two longest-serving mayors.
The plaza plays an important role in annual special events such as the Prairie Arts Festival, Septemberfest and the village's holiday tree lighting. The planned enhancements are hoped to improve its day-to-day usefulness for residents and employees.
Trustees last week chose a design for the project, which their chosen construction company, Chicago-based F.H. Paschen, has committed to seeking the best possible price through its membership in the National Cooperative Purchasing Alliance.
The firm had compiled a default option with an estimated cost of $647,137, before trustees were presented with several alternatives to consider with regard to landscaping, building materials and walkway design.
The biggest change they made was to choose galvanized and powder-coated steel as the material for the elevated shade structures in the plaza, over the default option of Southern Yellow Pine. That added an estimated $166,996 to the project cost.
Using pine would incur an annual maintenance cost of about $347 and the need for staining every few years at a cost of $3,000 to $5,000. The galvanized steel is expected to be maintenance free for 10 years.
Trustees chose the default $7,590 landscaping option of natural grass and trees over a $95,040 option of artificial turf and no trees. The chosen option, however, carries an annual maintenance cost of about $7,000, as opposed to $693 for the artificial turf.
Officials also were asked to choose among three different angles for the plaza's diagonal walkway, but the cost differences were negligible.
Construction is expected to start in the fall and be largely complete by the end of the year, though all the intended amenities may not be installed before next spring.
The village board renamed the plaza in 2016 in honor of the town's first attorney, who died in September 2014 after more than 50 years of service. Siegel began his work for the village by defending it against a legal challenge to its 1956 incorporation, and never retired.