Commissioner Urges Village to Raze its Two Boarded-Up Buildings

Two village-owned buildings that will likely have a prominent role in Forest Park's comprehensive plan should come down now rather than later, a commissioner urged earlier this week.

At Tuesday's commissioners' meeting, Rory Hoskins recommended that the boarded-up buildings at 512 Des Plaines Ave. and at Altenheim need to be demolished now.

Commissioners may have talked recently about surveying the community about the future of the two structures, but Hoskins said it didn't make sense to wait until the comprehensive plan is drafted and approved.

A contract to do the comphrehensive plan - a document that determines a town's goals and aspirations in terms of community planning - is expected to be approved later this month. A survey that will be sent out to all residents early next year will include questions about Altenheim and 512 Des Plaines, said Village Administrator Tim Gillian.

Hoskins said he came to his conclusions after walking through both properties. The 512 building, situated across the street from village hall, was destroyed in a fire and is no longer habitable.

"It's unlikely we can put it to any use," he said. "It's full of rotten wood, there's no roof and there are personal effects of people who lived there before. It's not a very sanitary place. Over the next year we ought to make plans to demolish it and use it for open space or parking."

There are even more challenges at Altenheim, he said. The village owns the 5-plus acres surrounding the Altenheim retirement residences, plus the outbuilding. First, it's not secure, Hoskins said. He found things there that suggest squatters have been there - clothing, bug spray, an old heater. There's no roof. He suggested that brush should be cleared out front so it can be secured.

If the village leaves it to the comprehensive plan to decide what to do with Altenheim, there'll be two more years of non-use and it won't do the village any good, Hoskins said, and urged his fellow commissioners to walk through it and see if it made sense to keep it standing as is.

The Forest Park Review reports that village paid back taxes on the ruins of 512 totaling as much as $8,000. A fire destroyed the building in 2010, the Review reported.

A number of proposals had been floated including giving it - as is - to the Forest Park Historical Society and Chamber of Commerce, or partnering with a "green technology" company to rehab the building into an alternate technology showroom. Karen Childs, vice president of the Forest Park Public Library Board, has requested that the two-flat property be razed and used for library parking, the Review reported.

The building at 512 Des Plaines cannot be rehabbed, Gillian said. Demolition could cost as much as $40,000, he said, and the village cannot find the funds as of yet to tear it down. The building deteriorated further and the roof collapsed over the course of two-and-a-half years, the Review reported.

The building at Altenheim had figured prominently in discussions with the West-Cook YMCA and Fenwick to buy the property, and both entities asked the village to demolish the outbuilding, the Review reported.

The YMCA wanted to use it for a new facility but financing could not be found to make the deal work. Fenwick had considered buying the property for a football stadium; no determination has been made yet, Gillian said.

Demolishing the outbuilding could cost as much as $1 million, Gillian said.