Wilmette officials touted everything from pancakes to pickleball as they described a bevy of new shops and improvements around the village to around 60 residents on Wednesday, Oct. 22.
Village President Senta Plunkett kicked off the largely informal State of the Village event with perhaps the largest development, the roughly $50 million police station replacement she said remains on time for a spring 2026 groundbreaking.
The larger facility will include a regional digital forensics lab and other new amenities. And it’ll rank as “one of the most sustainable police stations in our state,” Plunkett said.
“I think that it’s going to be a police station that not only will meet the needs of our residents in the future, but is thoughtful in its design,” she added.
Another big development? The several new stores that have popped up across the village.
Wayfair, the online home-goods retailer, opened what remains its only large-format store in 2024 and celebrated its one-year anniversary in June. Its two floors filled with furniture displays at Edens Plaza replaced a longtime Carson, Pirie, Scott department store.
Wayfair has become one of the village’s largest sales tax generators, Plunkett said.
Other recent additions at the shopping center abutting the Edens Expressway include Just Salad and apparel retailer Uncharted. Flamant Nail Boutique just opened this week, with Club Studio Fitness and Goddess and the Baker set to follow.
The latter will be the Chicago-based pastry cafe’s first suburban outpost. “I get a lot of comments about that one,” the village president said.
Plunkett also lauded a transformation underway on the other end of Wilmette. Plaza del Lago, the nearly century-old shopping center, has signed 16 new tenants. The stores will include several women’s fashion boutiques and Hermès, the Parisian luxury brand, among others.
Downtown Wilmette, Ridge Road and Skokie Boulevard have seen additions, too. Many serve up breakfast fare: Egg Harbor Cafe opened downtown, while Gratitude Bakeshop and Cafe on Ridge Road and Buttermilk Cafe on Skokie Boulevard are planned.
“There’s been talk of a pancake crawl in Wilmette with all of our wonderful new establishments,” Plunkett said, eliciting a guffaw from the crowd. “That should be fun. Stay tuned.”
One spot on Ridge Road has dimmer prospects. Village officials have tried to transform the long-vacant Treasure Island store, hoping to attract a small grocer, with little success. Because the space has a 10-year lease with Goodwill, the property owners “may not exactly be incentivized to rent it out,” Plunkett said during a question-and-answer session. A zoning change could be possible.
Meanwhile, Wilmette Park District Board President Patrick Lahey warned of aging facilities that need upgrades.
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“The park district can handle this,” he said. “We are fiscally strong, AAA rated and careful stewards of your tax dollar.”
The district decided to purchase the Beth Hillel Bnai Emunah synagogue site but has not decided what it will become. It will temporarily house the Wilmette Police Department during construction of the new police station.
One thing is certain: The district will not sell off the land, Lahey said during the Q&A session.
He also praised the various programs the district offers, including “two very active pickleball locations.” It’s now trying to crack the issue of how to recycle pickleballs.
The pickleball craze isn’t lost on other Wilmette institutions. Joan Fishman, the Wilmette Public Library’s board president, highlighted its “Library of Things,” which offers a pickleball set.
The library notched an 8% increase in visitors and sees around 750 people daily, she said.
“Everyone’s out there reading, which we’re delighted,” Fishman added.
Officials from Wilmette Public Schools District 39 and Avoca School District 37 provided brief updates, while a representative from New Trier Township High School District 203 did not appear. District 39 Board President Anne Hart said all classrooms have air conditioning, a first.
New Trier Township Supervisor Gail S. Eisenberg gave overviews of the township’s food pantry, financial assistance and other programs.
During the Q&A session, Plunkett faced multiple questions about the village’s response to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation that has swept across Chicago and the suburbs. Some nearby suburbs have enhanced their policies against assisting with immigration enforcement. Evanston, for example, made city property an “ICE free zone.”
Plunkett encouraged people to call Wilmette police with any concerns but demurred over potential policy responses. She cited the protections that already exist in state law and said the village cares about the issue but doesn’t want to “put a target on ourselves.”
“We might change course later,” Plunkett added. “But I — you know, what Evanston did, what Skokie did to reaffirm, said they were welcoming community — I understand that it felt like they were doing something, and there is that need to feel like you’re doing something. But I don’t know, ultimately, if it’s making communities safer.”
Wilmette’s State of the Village event, organized by the local League of Women Voters, took place at the Mallinckrodt Center. Unlike the annual spectacle in neighboring Evanston, where the mayor usually delivers a lengthy address, the Wilmette event occurs every other year, and it’s a relatively low-key affair.
Maureen Dulen, a co-president of the League of Women Voters of Wilmette, praised the turnout of residents, who consumed the cookies and sparkling water on offer during the event and caught up with officials afterward.
“I think there’s always room for more information,” Dulen told Pioneer Press. “And if we had, if I sat down with Senta one-on-one, we’d probably have a much better-engaged discussion. But for this type of event, I thought it went really well.”