City Desk By Mayor Jeffrey T. Sherwin
Church Building to Make Away for Open Space
The City of Northlake acquired the former Northlake Lutheran Church building approximately 15 years ago. The thought at the time was that because of its central location, adjacent to the Midland Trail and Grant Park, the building could be used for community purposes.
Former State Representative Kathleen Willis had her office located in the building for 10 years, and the Veterans Park District operated a pre-school program there as well. Representative Willis lost her re-election bid in 2022 and the office closed. The Veterans Park District pre-school closed shortly after that due to competition from the public schools who now offer similar programs.
The building has a complicated layout due to additions built in the late 1950’s resulting in 4 different levels, none of which, except the ground level, is ADA accessible which made large parts of the building unusable for public purposes.
The City went out to bid for the installation of an elevator which would make 85% of the building accessible to people with disabilities. The bids for this work came back at between $1 million and $1.3 million. The City Council took a hard look at this and determined it was not in the best interest of taxpayers to invest that kind of money into a building that still had a complicated layout even though it would be ADA accessible. A new 2,500 square foot building could be built for the same amount as retrofitting the elevator. It was decided that the best course of action would be to demolish the building and use the space for other public purposes.
Whatever furniture and furnishings that were in the building were taken to City Hall and sold to the public with the proceeds going into the Operation Roundup fund to assist residents in need pay their water bills. Some of the material has been re-purposed in City Hall. The balance of salvageable items, such as doors, light fixtures and plumbing fixtures have been donated to Habitat for Humanity for re-use.
We expect demolition to be completed this fall. Several ideas have been floated for the site. The most popular being pickle ball courts.
The site also has possibilities for a replacement building for the Vasquez Center currently located in Millenium Park. That facility is extremely popular, being utilized every weekend and several times during the week by various community groups and families. The Vasquez Center is in good condition and should not need replacement in the foreseeable future, but the option for re-location down the road is now available.
The Northlake Lutheran Church building has served the community well for 85 years. We are looking forward to continuing its legacy by using the site to further serve our community.
