News Articles and Press Releases

By Katie Backman

06/09/2009

Rockford Register Star

ROSCOE – A groundbreaking ceremony about two years in the making for the Village Hall building addition and renovation will be today.

Employees moved out of the existing Village Hall at 10631 Main St. as a safety precaution during the building’s addition and renovation project. 

The addition will be built on the south side of the current building. Trees and grass have been removed from the site to prepare for construction. The expanded building will bring more office, meeting and storage space. The addition will basically triple Village Hall’s size. 

A majority of the office supplies and equipment have been moved to the adjacent Roscoe Police Department building and to a nearby village-owed house at 10618 Pearl St., which officials refer to as “the Annex.”

Board members hired Ringland-Johnson for construction and renovation work, which will cost above $1.1 million.

“The addition is going to be good for us and create a larger working area for our staff,” village President Dave Krienke said. “The moving went smoothly, and we hope to be back in the building by October when construction is scheduled to be done.

In the meantime, Village Board meetings will be in Harlem-Roscoe Fire District, 10544 Main St. Committee meetings will be at the Annex. If either of the temporary meeting locations creates any problems, village officials will look for new meeting sites, Krienke said. The temporary sites will be used at no extra charge to the village.

Crews redirected telephone lines Monday. Krienke encourages residents to be patient if they had a difficult time trying to call village officials at 815-623-2829, but all of the numbers should be working properly today.

Clay Winter, a Roscoe resident living near Village Hall, said he doesn’t think the construction will bother him. However, he expects more traffic on Pearl Street because of the committee meetings that will be at the Annex.

Winter said he hopes motorists will be cautious while driving and parking on the residential streets and watch for children. 

“I hope the building will look nice, but I haven’t seen the final plans, “Winter said.

When board members were accepting construction bids for the project, they had Plan A and Plan B proposals. The village approved Plan A, which included basic renovation and addition plans.

The alternative proposal, Plan B, included an energy efficient roof and a shooting range, Krienke said. The shooting range, Krienke said. The shooting range didn’t conform to zoning codes, and the village’s budget couldn’t cover the costs of that building.

A shooting range would require a special heating and cooling system and roof, he said. The board decided to go with the lowest, basic bid, which was Ringland-Johnson’s.

Trustee Stacy Mallicoat has been working on the addition plan for about two years. He said he’s glad to “see some dirt moving.” Moving office materials and equipment went smoothly, he said.

“It looks different already,” Mallicoat said. “It’s very exciting. I think everyone is excited for the new hall because it will be a good landmark for the downtown area.”