Revamped sidewalks and streetscapes and new entrance signs for The Glen won quick approval Tuesday from Glenview’s Plan Commission, which added one request to keep a subtle historic nod to the site’s former life as the Glenview Naval Air Station.
Plan Commission members voted unanimously to recommend approval of a final site plan to rebuild sidewalks, curbs and landscaping along Tower Drive from Aviator Lane to Valor Drive, and to allow new, bigger signs at The Glen’s entrances at Patriot Boulevard and Lake Avenue and at Patriot and Willow Road.
They also asked The Glen’s commercial owner, The Tabani Group, to keep two trios of blue landing lights adjacent to the current signs at those intersections.
“I think it’s a unique way of honoring what this was before,” said Linda Kreer Witt, whose idea was quickly endorsed by other commissioners. “I think it’s a really unique and subtle way of doing that.”
Planning Director Jeff Brady said there have been maintenance problems with the current landing lights. Nonetheless, based on commissioners’ comments, Brady said, The Tabani Group would likely be willing to consider keeping the lights.
Tabani spokesman Abbas Kanji said Thursday that the firm plans to preserve the landing lights by swapping their locations with the new signs.
“Absolutely we want to keep them,” Kanji said. “We definitely want to preserve the history of The Glen. We have no intention of removing them.”
The new 20-foot LED entrance signs will be placed closer to the intersections of Patriot and Willow and of Patriot and Lake, where those blue landing lights currently sit. The LED signs will provide eight slots to post store names, instead of the current four.
Brady said their design is “very similar” to signs that would be allowed at other shopping centers.
On Wednesday, Appearance Commission members conducted a preliminary review of the site plan and discussed which combination of sidewalk replacement materials will prove most durable, Brady said. However, the commission won’t take a final vote until some time in October, he said.
Construction is scheduled to begin in March 2016 and last through September 2016.
Village trustees in May agreed to rebuild stretches of The Glen’s streetscape in a $3 million project that Glenview officials hope will last much longer than the current work.
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Although the streetscape along Tower Drive, Aviator Lane, Valor Lane, Wolverine Drive and Navy Boulevard is only 12 years old, officials said sidewalks have been damaged by annual freeze/thaw cycles and trees have been stunted by disease, salt and basins that proved too small for adequate growth.
Among problems Brady cited earlier this year:
* Sidewalks cracking and heaving where saw-cuts were made for aesthetic reasons and where granite pavers were placed around tree trunks, creating tripping hazards and occasionally tilting rainwater toward buildings instead of curbs.
* The popularity of outdoor dining means restaurants are using larger tables, which forces pedestrians to walk on granite pavers lining tree pits, which further damages those pavers.
* Pits where trees were planted are too small for continued growth and fail to allow proper dilution of salt laid on sidewalks during winters.
* Irrigation and electrical systems have deteriorated because they were residential-grade instead of commercial.
The reconstruction is being designed for a 20- to 30-year life span using current streetscape design “best practices,” including separating plants and trees from the sidewalk with raised landscaping beds and replacing brick pavers with stamped concrete similar to areas near the Glenview Metra/Amtrak station and crosswalks throughout downtown, officials said.
Sidewalks will be rebuilt and extended 2 feet into angled parking spaces, allowing for more sidewalk space, especially near outdoor dining areas, they said.
All rebuilt areas will comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, officials said.
Project costs will be covered by The Glen Capital Projects Fund, a tax increment financing district. Officials said annual tax revenue from The Glen will pay for the project in two and a half years.
Jon Davis is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.