Old La Grange Park Building Likely To Be Torn Down

LA GRANGE PARK, IL – A housing development is planned at the current site of the American Nuclear Society headquarters in La Grange Park.

The society is moving out of its complex at 555 Kensington Ave., where it has been based since 1977. According to the society's website, the building was the site of the old Oak Avenue Elementary School from 1929 to 1976.

Burr Ridge-based McNaughton Development is seeking the village's approval for a subdivision that would include eight houses and a detention pond. That indicates the developer would tear down the building.

The Village Board is expected to vote on the subdivision at its Jan. 24 meeting, Village Manager Julia Cedillo said in an email.

McNaughton has developed subdivisions around the suburbs, recently encountering a controversy in Burr Ridge.

The society's building is surrounded by houses. Patch received photos this week that showed the group apparently moving out.

Patch contacted the society Thursday to find out whether it has a new site, but it did not respond. In an August 2021 email to Patch, the society said it had yet to settle on a site, but was looking in Chicago's suburbs.

Cedillo, the village manager, said some of the society's employees were still working in the building.

In 2021, the Community Park District of La Grange Park entertained the possibility of using the society's 27,000-square-foot building as a possible site for an indoor recreation center. Officials apparently rejected that option.

On Friday night, the park board plans to decide on whether to put tax hike measures before voters to pay for a gymnasium next to the current recreation center.