Politics & Government

Village Board to Consider Administrative Building Expansion

The board will discuss in the coming months whether 2013 is the year to build an addition to the village administrative building.

The Frankfort Village Board will consider expanding the village administrative building in 2013.

The board discussed a possible expansion at the annual Committee of the Whole meeting in January.

The basement of the Frankfort Police Department has been the site of board meetings since 2008, but during the committee’s January meeting, Trustee Dick Trevarthan went so far as to refer to the space as a “bomb shelter.”

Find out what's happening in Frankfortwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Frankfort Mayor Jim Holland said that the expansion project would likely cost the village close to $3 million. However, the board has been budgeting for such a project since 2006, when they first discussed selling Heritage Hall, their previous meeting location. The village currently has $4 million designated for an expansion.

The project would likely be an addition to the existing village administrative building, with development to the north, east or south. The village administrative building is approximately 25 years old.

Find out what's happening in Frankfortwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

One plan that the board may consider, said Holland, is a project executed in two phases. A boardroom and a production space for Frankfort Community Television would be built first. Space would also be designated for the addition of offices in the future.

The boardroom would be available for daytime use by homeowners associations and other public groups.

The board is entertaining a plan with the potential for office space because the village may need to add to its staff in the near future, based on the current amount of housing and development growth in Frankfort.

“This will be a modest building,” said Holland. “It won’t be ostentatious.”

Holland was adamant that any expansion is merely an idea that will be considered by the board and that they may choose not to move ahead with the project. The board has discussed expanding in the past and opted not to build.

The last discussion of expansion occurred in 2009, following the 2008 sale of Heritage Hall to LaSalle Street Securities. 21 architectural firms applied to design the expansion and the board had selected three finalists when they decided not to continue with the project due to concern regarding the economy.

“Things are starting to look up,” said Village Administrator Jerry Ducay. “We feel we’ve weathered the storm.”

The board wants to take advantage of low building costs at a time when the village is financially stable, said Ducay. The Land Use and Policy Committee or the Departmental Operations Committee will likely address the expansion within the next few months.

“All of us agree that it will happen someday,” said Holland.

Get news alerts and Facebook updates from these Lincoln-Way Patch sites:


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here