Clarendon Hills ‘taking a step back’ from downtown plaza plan

Clarendon Hills officials decided to curb a city center project on Prospect avenue while they are looking to integrate potential projects in a larger plan for the village city center.

The place has been proposed between railway avenues and the park and would include the elimination of the right track, or the sliding route, the southern perspective on the park. This turn of turn is now part of what the village calls the Sloan triangle, an area that would become a large part of the square and used for gatherings.

Instead, the village council approved a contract with the consulting company Houseal Lavigne to facilitate an improvement plan for the city center of Clarendon Hills for an amount not exceeding $ 75,000. A place could be part of this plan, but the study concerns the entire city center and not in a place, said the village president, Eric Tech.

“There are a lot of different views about how we want to use our city center,” he said. “We take a step back and look at what we are trying to achieve here.”

Deputy Director of the village, Mera Johnson, said that the concept of converting the Sloan triangle in place by closing the West Tour was raised in 2023 and again this year.

She said that in 2023, the village conducted a traffic study, which determined that the proposed change would not have a major impact on traffic. After the discussion at a meeting of the city center design, the project did not progress beyond the study phase.

The Plaza concept has been revisited this year as a means of creating a more effective space for outdoor meals on the west side of avenue Prospect and providing an alternative that would reduce the need for street closings, added Johnson.

“The additional factors considered included previous planning documents, accessibility, pedestrian safety, parking and aesthetics,” she said. “In the past few months, other questions have been raised regarding pedestrian crossings, parking, traffic, orientation, alleys adjacent to Prospect avenue and the potential effects on existing and future companies.”

So now, the village plans to use a five -month process that includes feedback possibilities, facilitated by Houseal Lavigne. A community workshop has been scheduled since 6:30 p.m. on October 22, with a location that will soon be announced.

“The process will ultimately tackle the central question: how do we want to use our city center?” Said Johnson.

In a memo in the village, Houseal Lavigne has recommended a three-step process for the project, including a kick-off of the project and an initial commitment of the stakeholders, a vision of the plan and a development of the concept of sketch plan, and a project and a final plan to improve the city center.

Houseal Lavigne previously prepared the redevelopment plan for Clarendon Hills station in May 2012.

Chuck Fieldman is an independent journalist for Pioneer Press.