A decision on an architectural firm to remodel the Woodbine Golf Course banquet hall/clubhouse into a village hall for Homer Glen is expected later this month after trustees interviewed the three finalists.
“It has some great architectural features to it,” said Larry Hlavacek, associate principal at Dewberry, at a special board meeting last week. “…You have some good bones that you’re dealing with.”
The finalists – Dewberry, Wight & Company (whose projects have included Lemont Village Hall and Chicago City Hall) and Williams Architects (whose projects have included Barrington Village Hall and remodeling of Oakbrook Terrace City Hall) – each gave a roughly 20-minute presentation and then were questioned by the village board.
Dewberry and Williams Architects estimated they could provide architectural services for the remodeling project at a cost of $100 to $150 per square foot. Wight’s estimate was $125 to $150 per square foot.
Trustees were expected to submit their preferences soon to the village manager, Mayor Jim Daley said after the meeting.
The village, which recently purchased the 106-acre Woodbine Golf Course property at 14240 W. 151st St., for $3.3 million, hopes to move into its new village hall by next spring, Daley said.
The village also plans to locate a sheriff’s substation there and also hopes have a park with sports fields, walking paths and perhaps a garden, Daley has said. Within 10 years, Homer Glen hopes to construct a new village hall, if finances allow, and then locate a senior center and parks department at the banquet hall/clubhouse site.
The three firms described themselves as having experience with “green” architecture and the public sector, and a willingness to listen to the village’s preferences and work within the budget.
Jason Dwyer, project executive at Wight & Company, suggested his firm could potentially install a “living wall” – a biofilter that draws air through plants to cleanse it before recirculating.
“We can minimize the amount of outdoor that we have to bring in,” Dwyer said, explaining that a living wall saves energy..
The strengths of the banquet hall/clubhouse include it being long and narrow, with multiple spaces, updated doors and windows and great views, the firms said. Challenges include creating separate identities for separate spaces, existing ramps and potentially having to install an elevator that could cost around $80,000 to $250,000 for access to the second floor, they said.
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Trustee George Yukich asked if work could be started on the west end of the building, which houses the banquet facilities, while the east end with the clubhouse was occupied by the former owners. If the married couple who are seeking to retire were allowed to stay beyond the previously-agreed upon date of the end of the year, the village would save money, he said, because they now pay $150,000 for maintenance. Tthe village will have to pick up the cost of maintenance when they leave, he said.
Residents “want to use the property they paid for” and the cost of maintaining the property, which would no longer need to be kept up as a golf course, would be about $30,000 to $35,000 a year, Daley said.
“I have absolutely no intention of keeping that golf course open in ’15,” he said.