FRANKFORT
Board hears new Heritage Hall plans
Village officials are taking a second look at redeveloping Heritage Hall to spark a downtown renaissance.
A plan for the two-story building at 14 S. Hickory St. fell through last year when the developer failed to meet a deadline, forcing trustees to issue another call for proposals to update the turn-of-the-century structure.
Five plans outlined for the Village Board Tuesday night included educational, social, commercial and residential uses, and all called for keeping the original building and the neighboring Frankfort Historical Society Museum intact.
Clyde and Diane Richardson, who want to relocate their music school, Axes Music Inc., to Heritage Hall, said they envision the building becoming a community cultural center that would emulate Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music.
“We really want to preserve the history and culture of Frankfort,” Diane Richardson said.
Axes Music has 13 teachers and 400 students, and the number is likely to keep growing, she said.
Heritage Hall would provide enough room for performance space and for a coffee shop.
Frankfort Mokena American Legion Post 2000 members also emphasized service to the community in their proposal to take over the building and turn it into their own Legion post.
“Basically, we’re about helping veterans and their families,” Legionnaire Richard Reynolds said. “We would work with the Historical Society very closely” to preserve the museum, he said.
The Village Board would still be able to keep its second-floor meeting space, and the town’s cable access channel could keep it headquarters, Reynolds said. “We’re not here to push anybody out. We’re here to serve.”
Mark Munizzo, of The Equity Network, said his group’s plan is designed for positive impact. Downtown Frankfort isn’t a major destination yet, but it’s “the most charming district this side of the Galena territory,” he said.
Architect Chuck Smith, of Arete 3, said the village needs a development that “addresses a lot of different uses.”
Heritage Hall would be renovated to allow for a small restaurant on the first floor and two apartments on the second floor. The project would also include five frame rowhouses designed to blend in with the neighborhood’s Victorian architecture, Smith said.
The design would also boost downtown parking to 232 spaces from 169, he said.
Heritage Hall would be remodeled into retail and office space on the first floor and more office space above. “It’s not a bad building,” said Paul Swanson, an architect working with CD Group. “It’s got pretty good bones.”
The second component consists of rowhouse-style townhomes, he added.
The area would have a Victorian flavor with brick pavers and gaslights, he said.
Mayor Jim Holland and trustees said they won’t be ready to make a decision for a while, but they want developers to address residents’ drainage concerns, the benefits to the downtown and the village and the financial considerations.
Pat Harper
WILL COUNTY
4 charged in sales of illegal CDs, DVDs
Four men were arrested last weekend after a raid at a local flea market netted thousands of pirated movies and music.
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On a sweep requested by the Recording Industries Association of America, authorities said they found the illegal merchandise at Montana Charlie’s Flea Market, 255 S. Joliet Rd., Bolingbrook.
All four men were charged with felony unlawful use of unidentified sound recordings. Arrested were Jairo J. Ramirez, 17, and Placido Patino, 18, both listed at the same address in the 4300 block of South Fairfield Avenue in Chicago. Police said they found 1,116 compact discs and 230 DVDs in their booth.
Also arrested was Juan D. Bonilla, 48, of the 600 block of Kingston Drive in Romeoville. Bonilla allegedly had 2,180 CDs and 1,679 DVDs in bins in his booth
Benjamin Estavan, 37, of the 1700 block of State Street, Lockport, was also charged after investigators said they found 240 CDs and DVDs in his booth.
Bonilla was released on $100,000 bond while Estavan made a $75,000 bond. Both Ramirez and Patino bonded out on Tuesday but their bond figure was not available, an official of the Will County Sheriff’s Department said.
Patricia Trebe
JOLIET
Parking-lot plan picking up steam
If things had gone according to plan, a four-story downtown building would now be home to 40 condominiums. Instead, the 72,000-square-foot facility south of the historic Union Station appears slated for demolition, to make way for a parking lot.
Metra is hiring consultants to perform environmental analysis and transportation studies related to the 100-year-old vacant brick-and-timber warehouse on New Street, along with four vacant lots on York Street.
City officials last month agreed to reimburse Metra $36,600 after City Manager John Mezera said the research is necessary before an appraisal can be done.
Joe Shetina, who heads the City Council’s Land Use Committee, said Metra probably will level the structure.
Chicago-based Grubb & Ellis lists the property for $1.3 million, noting the condominium project is possible. City officials designated the property as a planned-use development and approved a special-use permit in 2004. But the planned-use status is scheduled to expire in June.
The late William Roppolo, a Plainfield developer, had obtained city approvals with the intention of converting the property and marketing it as Union Towers at City Center, but that plan ended with his death in December 2005.
Dennis Sullivan