There may be a place for a Wal-Mart in New Lenox, but the Commons area isn’t it, according to Mayor Mike Smith.
Preliminary contact from the giant discount chain indicates Wal-Mart is interested in a site on the western end of land earmarked for a town center.
Land for the New Lenox Commons, which is between U.S. Highway 30 and the Village Hall on Haven Avenue and stretches east from Greenbriar Avenue to Nelson Road, is envisioned as an area of public buildings, green space and specialty shops.
A huge discount store will not fit in with the plans, which include a new library, a village green with a pond, a gazebo and a veterans memorial, a new Village Hall and a recreation center, Smith said.
But other locations are available. The area where a proposed extension of Interstate Highway 355 is slated to link up with Interstate Highway 80 would be a good place for a Wal-Mart, the mayor said.