La Grange May Spend $900K On West End Site

LA GRANGE, IL – La Grange officials are poised to spend an unbudgeted $915,000 on a West End property. They revealed what they want to do with it.

At Monday's Village Board meeting, trustees are set to vote on buying a parking lot in the 700 block of West Burlington Avenue from FNBC Bank & Trust.

In a memo released Thursday, Village Manager Jack Knight said the property would increase the amount of parking on the West End, particularly for employees there.

The village would allow the current parking accommodations through the end of May, which would let users make changes, Knight said.

Starting in June, La Grange plans to follow the recommendations in a 2022 parking study, with regulations communicated to the public, Knight said.

Village officials have said before that parking on the West End is a problem.

Last year, FNBC Bank acquired property next to its building in the 600 block of West Burlington to expand its main parking lot, Knight said.

After the bank ended construction in the fall, it told the village it no longer needed the lot in the 700 block, which was used by customers, employees and a few area residents, Knight said.

In his memo, Knight said the $915,000 expense was unanticipated and that the money was not in the current year's budget.

He said the village would dip into its parking fund for the money.

La Grange officials hadn't spoken publicly before at Village Board meetings about the possibility of buying the property. In late January, the board closed the doors to discuss purchasing real estate. It is allowable under state law to meet in closed session for such a purpose.