Laschen Center Demolition Expected to Start Thursday

VERNON HILLS, IL -- Demolition of the Laschen Center in Vernon Hills is expected to get underway on April 11, village officials said. The first steps in the project will be to install the tree protection, safety fencing and silt fence and the demolition activities will be conducted off of Evergreen Drive. After the building materials are removed, it will be backfilled with soil and a grass turf set up.

The project is expected to take 60 days to complete, according to a post on the village of Vernon Hills Facebook page. The majority of the utilities have been disconnected to the building and local police and fire departments have been notified about the demolition, village officials said in late March.

The site is expected to eventually be turned into a park, the Daily Herald reports. The building was first opened in the late 1950s and was the clubhouse to the Tally Ho Country Club. It would then serve as the town's village hall, park district headquarters and a community meeting place, according to the newspaper.

The Laschen Center is named after Larry Laschen who was first hired as the Vernon Hills police chief in 1973 and eventually became the village manager. He retired in 1998.